LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Protestantism and the Church. 



LECTURES 

Delivered in St. Ann's Church on the Sunday 
Evenings of Advent, 1881. 



BY TH1 



Rt. Rev. Monsignor T. S. PRESTON", V.GL, LL.D., 

Domestic Prelate to His Holiness Leo XIII. 




NEW YORK: 
ROBERT CODDINGTON, 246 Fourth Avenue 
1882. 



fh 



1* 



Copyright, 1881 , by 
ROBERT CODDINGTON. 



The Library 

Ob CONGKESS 

Washington 



H. J. HEWITT, PRINTER, 27 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK. 



CONTEN TS. 



LECTURE FIRST. 

PAGE 

The Divine Institution of the Church, 9 

LECTURE SECOND. 

The Protestant Reformation and the Church, ... 85 

LECTURE THIRD. 

The Anglican Theory of the Church, . . . . . 143 



LECTURE FOURTH. 

The Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church, . . . 281 



PREFACE. 



fJUIE following lectures were only substantially de- 
livered in St. Ann's Church during this Advent. 
There are two reasons for their publication : First, it 
was impossible to treat the subject with any com- 
pleteness in the ordinary time allotted to an even- 
ing's discourse. The extreme importance of the 
questions proposed made me unwilling *to do my- 
self injustice by trusting to a brief, unwritten lec- 
ture. In almost all the points of history I have 
fortified my statements by quotations from Pro- 
testant authorities ; and such quotations could not 
well be presented in any integrity without the risk 
of wearying the audience. Yet such testimonies are 
of great weight in the argument, and ought to in- 
fluence any honest mind. The natural desire to do 
whatever good one is able to do has, then, led me to 
the careful preparation and publication of these 
lectures. Those who have kindly listened to the 
spoken discourses will be able to appreciate the 
propriety of presenting to the public these sub- 
ects in a more perfect form. Secondly, there are 

5 



6 



Prefa ce. 



many who did not hear the lectures, who may, by 
the blessing of God, derive some profit from them, if 
they will be patient enough to read and study them. 

I am not so unwise as to think that there is any 
great merit in my treatment of a familiar subject. I 
have only written in a popular form, without any at- 
tempt at that perfection which belongs to a more 
labored treatise. Still, it seems to me that I have 
stated enough to convince the candid reader, or at 
least to lead him to prayerful investigation of a 
matter which is vital to the soul. These questions 
are not in regard to the affairs of this short life. 
They concern eternity and the salvation of men. It 
is necessary to salvation to belong to the true 
Church of Christ ; and nothing but invincible igno- 
rance can excuse those who are separate from the 
one fold of faith. I will only beg every one to read 
these lectures in the same spirit as that in which I 
have prepared them, and in the desire to be true and 
sincere with G-od. The infinite mercy may bless that 
which of itself is so imperfect, and cause our poor 
efforts to tend in some way to the extension on earth 
of the kingdom of Christ and the glory of the In- 
carnate Word. T. S. P. 

New Yoek, Feast of St. Thomas, 1881. 



Lecture First. 



THE DIVINE INSTITUTION OF THE 
CHURCH. 



Lecture First. 



THE DIVINE INSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH. 



"And I say unto thee : that thou art Peter ; and upon this rock I 
will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
it."— St. Matthew xvi. 18. 

pRECEDINGr lectures upon the Protestant Re- 
formation have shown the character of that di- 
vided and contradictory Christianity which then 
sprang into being, and which has for three cen- 
turies resisted the authority of the Catholic Church. 
We briefly examined the causes which led to the 
rise of Protestantism, the character of the founders 
of that irrational system of error, and the conse- 
quences which followed their teachings. Two mani- 
fest results are apparent to every one. While 
the leaders and fathers of Protestantism have suc- 
ceeded in drawing many from the ancient faith 
of more than fourteen centuries, they have alto- 
gether broken up the unity of Christian belief, and 
have divided into sects without number the com- 

9 



10 



First Lecture, 



munion of their followers. There is not the slightest 
pretence of visible unity, and for them the one Chris- 
tian Church has ceased to be. And, secondly, while 
the external unity of Protestants is an impossibil- 
ity, the internal union of belief is still more impos- 
sible. Sects which mutually contradict each other 
have left not one common article of the Christian 
creed, and stand in hopeless discord before the 
world, as in truth the abettors of an infidelity which 
denies Christ and assails even the throne of God. 

It has often occurred to us to wonder that honest 
and sincere minds do not at once reject a system 
which, full of contradictions, is contrary to reason ; 
and that they do not feel the force of the almost 
self-evident proposition, that, as God is one, His re- 
ligion must be one. A still greater wonder is, that 
history with its teachings is ignored, and that Chris- 
tianity, which can only spring from "Christ, is made 
to come from the brains of men who do not even 
claim to be inspired. The Christian revelation de- 
pends entirely upon our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ, who is God and Man in one person. As 
man He was born into this world and is an histori- 
cal character. His life and labors are matter of his- 
tory, which teaches us that He founded a Church, of 
necessity one, which He promised to maintain until 
His second coming. It is an undeniable fact that the 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 11 

Church which He thtis established is in being and has 
fulfilled, through all the ages, His promise. How can 
any true heart prefer the contradicting tongnes of 
numberless sects, claiming no authority to teach 
mankind, to the one unchanging voice of the Ca- 
tholic and Apostolic Church ? How can any sincere 
seeker for truth cut himself off from the historical 
Christianity which must speak the words of Christ, 
if there be any body on earth to represent Him ? 

Now, in our former brief lectures we were able to 
consider Protestantism only from the view of its 
attack upon the ancient and universally-received 
faith, and from the moral disorder which flowed 
of necessity from the destruction of a fixed creed. 
In simple and popular discourses we could only 
touch the outline of an argument, which is to true 
reason unanswerable. It has seemed to us that it 
might be of advantage to take up again the subject 
of the so-called Reformation from the point of its 
attack upon the Christian Church, and to show that 
it has aimed to destroy altogether, and for its disci- 
ples has really destroyed, the most sacred institu- 
tion of Christ. The argument of former lectures was, 
in plain terms : That cannot be the religion of Christ 
which subverts the Christian faith, and instead of 
unity of belief brings in doubt and dissension with 
consequent immorality. 



12 



First Lecture. 



The argument of the discourse's we propose to give 
this Advent concerns principally the external com- 
munion of the faithful under one head, the Church 
which Jesus Christ founded, and for which He gave 
Himself in agonies and death. There is such a 
Church, or the word of the God-Man has failed. 
The Reformation with all the systems which it has 
engendered denies the existence of that Church, and 
is therefore, notwithstanding all its appearances of 
piety, the enemy of God and His Christ. Indivi- 
duals stand or fall before their invisible and omnis- 
cient Judge, who will render to every man according 
to his works. But systems of falsehood and the 
founders of such systems are already condemned by 
the invariable truth of the one Teacher and Redeemer 
of mankind. 

In accordance, therefore, with this plan of argu- 
ment, we propose in the first lecture of this short 
course to show the divine institution of the Chris- 
tian Church by the repetition of familiar and incon- 
trovertible evidence. The .second discourse will de- 
monstrate that the Protestant Reformation theoret- 
ically and practically has destroyed the Church, 
and has therefore sought to attack the most sacred 
work of Jesus Christ. The third lecture will ex- 
amine the singular and irrational theory by which 
the system called Anglicanism seeks to sustain itself. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 13 

Our discussion would not be complete without a 
notice of this peculiar theory, which pretends to 
stand in the impossible half-way position between 
the unity of the Church and the disunion of Pro- 
testantism. We think it will quite plainly appear 
that Anglicans, as they love to call themselves, are 
the offspring of the Reformation, and distinctly 
marked with a birth they desire to disown. 

The concluding lecture will present the Catholic 
doctrine concerning the Church, infallibly taught by 
the Supreme Pontiffs, the councils, and Fathers of 
Christian antiquity. This doctrine, as old as the 
Founder of our religion, is the only defence against 
infidelity, and the only guard of the manifestation of 
Grod incarnate upon earth. 

The truth is simple and plain, and to Catholic ears 
easy of comprehension. There is nothing new in our 
argument, and surely nothing effective in our feeble 
presentation of it. It depends upon the light and 
power of the Holy Spirit to touch our lips and in- 
flame our words, that they may bring conviction and 
make known to honest hearts the truth as it is in 
Jesus. To the throne, then, of that Divine Spirit we 
come, and beg with all our souls that He who is life 
may make us live ; that He who is truth may speak 
through us, and impart to our nothingness some- 
thing of His convincing power. For, surely, we are 



14 



First Leciurm. 



treating of the things that concern life or death, sal- 
vation through the redeeming blood or everlasting 
perdition. "To him that knoweth to do good, and 
doth it not, to him it is sin." * 

The purpose of this evening's lecture will, then, be 
to present to you the proof that Jesus Christ, our 
Saviour, founded a Church, with all the necessary 
provisions for its permanence as His representative, 
and the sign or sacrament of unity with Himself. 
Here we shall only tread upon familiar ground ; 
yet the repetition of truths so essential to our faith 
will tend to confirm us in our Christian profession, 
while, by the blessing of God, it may lead to the con- 
viction and conversion of some who earnestly seek 
for their Redeemer and yearn to hear His infallible 
voice. These will hear with obedient minds, while 
God, who has promised to honor His own institutions, 
will speak with the feeble tongue of the preacher. 

The proper discussion of our subject leads us to 
answer the following questions : 

I. Did Jesus Christ, our Lord, institute a Church ? 

II. What are the principal characteristics of this 
Church % 

III. What were the principal promises which He 
made to it % 



* St. James iv. 17. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 15 



IV. Are the facts of history in accordance with 
these promises \ 

V. Are not the Catholic Church and Christianity 
synonymous in idea and in act ? 

I. 

Our Divine Lord Jesus Christ did institute a 

Church. 

Here we might perhaps content ourselves with the 
almost universal admission of those who call them- 
selves Christians. However they may differ as to 
the nature or prerogatives of this Church, yet nearly 
all profess to believe that a Church was established 
by Christ ; and in this conviction the world has for 
ages acquiesced. This Church is the great feature of 
human history since the Incarnation, and since a Di- 
vine Providence has forced the earth to number its 
years from the birth of God made man. 

It will be well, however, to note the testimony of 
Holy Scripture, which is an inspired narrative of the 
sayings and doings of our Lord. One of the first 
acts of His ministry after His solemn baptism in 
the Jordan was to call His disciples and to form 
them into a community. Afterwards of the body 
of the disciples He selected twelve, whom He named 
apostles. " It came to pass in those days that He 



16 



First Lecture. 



went out into a mountain to pray, and He passed 
the whole night in the prayer of God. And when 
it was day, He called His disciples, and He chose 
twelve of them, whom also He named apostles : Si- 
mon, whom He surnamed Peter, and Andrew his bro- 
ther, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 
Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, 
and Simon who is called Zelotes, Jude the brother 
of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor." * 
To these apostles He gave authority to act as minis- 
ters in His name. 

"As the Father hath sent me, even so do I send 
you." f " He that heareth you, heareth me ; and 
he that despiseth you, despise th me." % Such a de- 
signation of ministry implies an organized commu- 
nity — namely, the Church, which, according to the 
Apostle St. Paul, "is built upon the foundation of 
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself be- 
ing the chief corner stone." § Our Lord in still plain- 
er terms indicates His- purpose and the nature of the 
Church He proposed to found. Addressing Simon, 
He says to him: "I say to thee : that thou art Pe- 
ter ; and upon this rock will I build my Church, and 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." || Here 
He declares His will to found a Church upon Simon, 



* St. Luke vi. 12-16. f St. John xx. 21. % St. Luke x. 16. 
§ Ephes. ii. 20. || St. Matt. xvi. 18. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 17 

whom He had surnamed a rock, as its stable foun- 
dation, against which no power of diabolical malice 
should prevail. 

The Acts of the Apostles are a simple narrative of 
the establishment and growth of this Church in dif- 
ferent lands. In the very beginning we find St. 
Peter calling together the Church to fill up the place 
of the traitor Judas among the twelve ; and succeed- 
ing chapters show how this communion of Christ, 
under various persecutions, grew and extended itself 
from nation to nation, and earned for itself the name 
of Catholic even before the death of the apostles. 

" Take heed," says St. Paul, " to yourselves, and 
to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath 
placed you bishops, to rule the Church of God, which 
He hath purchased with His own blood." * "If any 
one will not hear the Church, let him be to thee 
as the heathen and the publican." f These words 
of our Blessed Lord are explained by the apostle, 
who declares the visible communion of Christians, 
over which the apostles and their successors ruled, 
to be u the Church of the living God, the pillar and 
ground of the truth." % 

The demonstration from Holy Scripture is conclu- 
sive. Our Divine Redeemer promised to establish a 



* Acts xx. 28. f St. Matt, xviii. 17. % 1 St. Tito. iii. 15. 



18 



First Lecture. 



Church, and fulfilled His promise ; and the commu- 
nion which He organized under the rule of St. Peter 
and the apostles, was one body, bearing the marks of 
His divine hand, and therefore possessing a divine 
character. 

If we now appeal to profane history we can say, 
without fear of contradiction, that there is no fact 
so well established, not one more universally receiv- 
ed, not one which has left such ineffaceable marks 
upon society. The Church has lived above and 
against the seductions and hatred of the world. It 
has survived all its persecutors, while mighty dynas- 
ties have risen, flourished, and crumbled to dust. It 
has subdued the jealousy of Jewish malice, and borne 
into oblivion the enmity of pagan idolatry. What- 
ever it hath touched it has either bent to its sway 
or ground to powder. It hath converted the pagan, 
and turned to sweetness the fury of the barbarian. 
No age nor nation which has seen the feet of its 
ministry of peace has failed to be illumined and 
moulded by its all-powerful sway. Without the 
Church of Jesus Christ the history of nineteen cen- 
turies has no meaning. There is no explanation of 
the struggles of nations, of the war between evil 
and good, or of the divine providence among the 
rebel spirits of men. 

It seems, then, unnecessary to pursue this de- 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 19 

monstration, and it only remains to add that the 
Church which our Lord established was in its very 
nature a visible body. It was composed of visible 
men, governed by visible rulers, and founded by a 
visible Redeemer. If it were invisible it could be of 
no use to mankind, nor could it accomplish any of 
the ends proposed. It could neither teach, govern, 
nor convey sacramental grace through visible signs. 
"The tower of election is exalted everywhere and 
is beautiful to look upon," says St. Irenseus ; "for 
everywhere is the Church distinctly visible, and 
everywhere is the wine-press dug" * "The spiritu- 
al Sion is the Church in which Christ has been ap- 
pointed King by God the Father — a Church which is 
throughout the world, wherein there is one Catholic 
Church." f "It is an easier thing for the sun to be 
quenched than for the Church to be made invisi- 
ble." J "There is, therefore," says St. Augustine, 
" no safeguard of unity, save from the Church made 
known by the promises of Christ— a Church which, 
being seated on a hill, cannot be hid, and is necessa- 
rily known to all parts, of the earth." § 

*St. Irenaeus, "Adv. Haeres.,"lV. 36. 

| St. Optatus, "DeSchis. Donat," III. 

X St. Chrysostom, T. VI. Horn. IV. 

§ St. Augustine, T. IX. L. III. contra Ep. Parmen. 



20 



First Lecture. 



II. 

The Characteristics of the Church founded by our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

If we look more closely at the nature of the organ- 
ization which our Divine Master instituted we shall 
see more plainly what He made it, and what He in- 
tended it to be. His words were creative, and His 
will is efficacious. Of necessity its characteristics 
are unity, sanctity, catholicity, and apostolicity. 
We say of necessity, because these characteristics 
are essential to the Church which He established, 
and cannot fail without destroying the life of the 
Church itself. We shall see how this proposition 
is proved by reason, and also by the inspired lan- 
guage of the divine Scripture. 

1. Unity is an essential endowment of the Church, 
without which, in the proper sense of the term, there 
can be no Church. 

Let it be understood that God alone can found a 
Church. Man can no more make a Church than he 
can create a world. He can gather men into one 
company and establish a society ; but such an or- 
ganization is purely human and in no sense a Church. 
Now, God is an essential unity, and could not found 
two or more churches without contradicting Him- 
self, which is impossible. He must either found one 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 21 

or none. The moment there are two, there is con- 
tradiction, of which the Divine Being cannot be the 
author. We argue rightly for the unity of God, 
from the fact that the very idea of necessary being 
excludes an equal, much more a superior. We may 
also apply the argument to the unity of the Church, 
which confessedly represents Him on earth. He can- 
not have two representatives of His divine unity. 
One may be clothed with His power and be filled 
with His life. There can be no rival here, else the 
likeness of God is lost, and the representative ceases 
to bear the image of its principal amid the scene of 
utter confusion. Moreover, the end for which Jesus 
Christ founded a Church demands the strictest 
unity. The Church is sent to teach, to govern, and 
to convey through external signs the grace of the 
cross to redeemed man. There can be but one 
teacher, as there is only one truth to be made 
known. There can be only one ruler, else there is 
constant discord, and with such division there can 
be no possible exercise of loyal obedience. There 
can be but one priesthood with power to apply the 
blood of Calvary, else men may wander in vain, and 
neither see their teachers nor know where the waters 
of salvation flow. Besides the argument that God 
cannot contradict Himself through contradicting 
teachers, the erection of two or more churches 



22 



First Lecture. 



would be the destruction of His whole plan and 
the frustration of the work of His apostles. Not 
even human wisdom would be guilty of such short- 
sighted folly. It is strange that every honest 
mind does not at once see this conclusion. Surely 
it is irrational to make God less wise than His crea- 
tures. 

And this unity which belongs to the Church is 
visible, complete, and permanent. We can com- 
prehend no other idea of unity attaching to a visible 
body ; for if the body be not visibly one, it is not 
visible at all. As also visible unity is the outward 
expression of internal unity, it naturally follows 
that where one exists the other must be found. So 
complete is this unity that it cannot be infringed, 
since it is an essential characteristic of the Church. 
Individual members may fall away, but they perish 
because they cease to be united to the body. The 
visible unity of the Church cannot be touched without 
the entire destruction of the whole. It is easier to 
conceive of the Church of Christ falling into nothing, 
and ceasing to be, than to comprehend the contradic- 
tory supposition of its existence and its loss of visible 
unity. That which belongs to the essence of a thing 
must endure while the thing continues to be, and 
therefore the Church of Christ will always be one, 
persevering to the end in its visible integrity. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 23 



We come now to the question of fact. It is certain 
that our Divine Lord founded a Church, and that He 
founded but one. With all the absurd theories of 
our time, it is not even pretended that He founded 
more than one Church. But let us see what are 
His own words in regard to its unity. In the me- 
morable language addressed to St. Peter He con- 
stitutes him the head of the Church He is to build : 
% ' Upon thee, whom I have for this reason surnamed 
a rock, I will build my Church." One foundation 
implies the most rigid unity of the building. But 
Peter is one, and therefore the superstructure is one. 
Moreover, the headship here given to Peter makes 
him the one ruler of the whole Church. The words 
of St. Ambrose are, then, rigidly true: "Where 
Peter is, there is the Church." The body cannot be 
severed from the head, and any member losing its 
living union with, the head perishes. 

The comparisons used by the inspired writers estab- 
lish also the visible unity of the Christian Church. 
They continually call it the kingdom of Christ, ac- 
cording to the prophecy : " In those days the God of 
heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be 
destroyed." * "I dispose to you, as my Father hath 
disposed to me, a kingdom." f The essential charac- 



* Dan. ii. 44. 



f St. Luke xxii. 29. 



First Lecture. 



teristic of a kingdom is its unity. " A kingdom di- 
vided against itself shall be made desolate." * In no 
sense could the Church be likened to a kingdom if 
it were not visibly one. It is also called a body, and 
the body of Christ Himself. "He hath made Him 
head over all the Church, which is His body, and the 
fulness of Him who is filled all in all." f "Christ 
is the head of the Church ; He is the saviour of His 
body." % Surely there can be no unity more perfect 
than that of the human body, where the least in- 
fringement of it is loss of life. 

The Church is again compared to a temple built 
upon one foundation, whose firmness depends upon 
the grace and promise of Christ: "You are built 
■upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone : 
in whom all the building, being framed together, 
groweth up into a holy temple in the Lord." § So 
says the apostle: "There is one body, as there is 
one Spirit, as there is one hope of our calling, as 
there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one 
God." || And our Lord likens this unity of the 
members of the Church to each other, to their visible 
head, and to Himself, to the unity of the three Per- 
sons in the adorable Trinity: "The glory which 



* St. Matt. xii. 25. f Ephes. i. 22, 23. || Bphes. v. 23. 

§ Ephes. ii. 20, 21. \\ Ephes. iv. 4-6. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 25 

Thou hast given to me I have given to them ; that 
they may be one, as we also are one." * There is no 
possible answer to these words of God. The Church 
founded by Christ is necessarily and permanently 
one. In this connection let us hear for a moment 
the language of some early Christian Fathers who 
testify to the facts of Christianity and to the doctrine 
received from our Lord. 

Clement of Alexandria, a.d. 190: "The true 
Church is one in which are enrolled all who are just 
according to God's purpose. The one Church is as- 
sociated to the nature of the One, which Church 
these men violently attempt to divide into many 
heresies" ("Strom.," L. VI.) 

St. Cyprian, a.d. 248: "Part a ray of the sun 
from its orb ; this division of light the unity allows 
not. Break a branch from the tree ; once broken it 
can bud no more. Cut the stream from its source ; 
the remnant dries up. Thus the Church, flooded 
with the light of the Lord, puts forth her rays 
through the whole world ; yet the light is one, 
which is spread over every place, while its unity of 
body is preserved." "There is one God and one 
Christ, and His Church is one, and the faith one, 
and the people one, joined into the solid unity of one 



*St. John xvii. 22. 



First Lecture. 



body. Unity cannot be sundered, nor the one body 
be separated by the dissolution of its structure, nor 
be torn in pieces by the rending of its inward vitals. 
Whatsoever is parted from the womb cannot live 
and breathe in a state of separation ; it loses its prin- 
ciple of health." 

St. Ambrose, a.d. 3S5 : " Out of every valley is the 
Catholic people gathered. And now the congrega- 
tions are not many, but there is one congregation 
and one Church. Learn from this that all heretics 
and schismatics are separated from the kingdom of 
God and from the Church" ("Hexcemer," L . III.) 

St. J. Chrysostom, a.d. 387: "He calls it the 
Church of God, showing that it ought to be united. 
For if it be of God it is united, and is one not in 
Corinth only, but also in all the world. For the 
name of the Church is a name not of separation but 
of unity and concord" (Horn. I. in Ep. ad Cor.) 

" Nothing so provokes God as the division of the 
Church. Even though we have done ten thousand 
good things, yet shall we, if we cut to pieces the ful- 
ness of the Church, suffer no less a punishment than 
they who mangled His body. A certain holy man 
(St. Cyprian) declared that not even the blood of 
martyrdom was able to blot out the sin of schism" 
(Horn. XI. in Ep. ad Ephes.) 

St. Augustine, a.d. 400: "That Church assured- 



The Divine Institution of the Church 27 



ly is one which our ancestors called the Catholic, 
that they might show by the name itself that it is 
throughout the whole. But this Church is the body 
of Christ, as the apostle says, ' For His body, which 
is the Church' (Coloss. i. 24), whence it is manifest 
that he who is not in the members of Christ can- 
not have Christian salvation" (" De Unitate Ec- 
clesise," N. 2). 

Again, St. Cyprian, speaking of the unity of the 
Church secured by the headship of Peter, says: 
"There is one baptism, and one Holy Ghost, and 
one Church, founded by Christ our Lord upon Peter, 
for an original and principle of unity " (Ep. LXX. ad 
Januarium). 

" The primacy is given to Peter, that the Church of 
Christ may be set forth as one and the chair as one. 
He who holds not this unity of the Church, does 
he think that he holds the faith % He who strives 
against and resists the Church, he who abandons the 
chair of Peter, upon whom the Church was founded, 
does he feel confident that he is in the Church % " 

St. Maximus, a.d. 424, thus writes : "On account 
of the solidity of his devotedness to Christ, Peter is 
called the rock of the churches, as the Lord declares : 
6 Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
my Church.' For he is called a rock, because he 
was the first to lay the foundations of the faith 



28 



First Lecture. 



among the nations, and because, like a univer- 
sal rock, lie binds together the compacted mass of 
the whole structure of Christianity" (Horn. IV. de 
Petro). 

St. Leo, a.d. 440, thus speaks : "The Lord willed 
the sacrament of this office to pertain to all the apos- 
tles in such a manner, as that He placed it principal- 
ly in the blessed Apostle Peter, the chief of all the 
apostles ; and wishes His gifts to flow unto the whole 
body from him, Peter, as from a head, that whoso 
should dare withdraw from the solidity of Peter 
might know himself to be an alien from the divine 
mystery. For it was His will that this man, whom 
he had taken into the fellowship of an indivisible 
unity, should be named that which He Himself was, 
by saying, 4 Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I 
build my Church,' that the building of the everlast- 
ing temple might, by the marvellous gift of the grace 
of God, be compacted together in the solidity of 
Peter, by this firmness strengthening His Church, 
so that neither human temerity should be able to 
injure it, nor the gates of hell prevail against it" 
(Ep. X. ad Epis. per Prov. Vienn.) 

Thus the facts of history, as well as the inspired 
testimony of Holy .Scripture, prove that the Church 
which Jesus Christ founded possesses visible unity 
as one of its essential notes. " Whoever," says 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 29 

St. Augustine in his synodic epistle from the Coun- 
cil of Zerta, "is separated from the Catholic Church, 
how laudably soever he may think he lives, yet for 
this crime only, that he is severed from the unity of 
Christ, he will not have life, but the wrath of God 
remains upon him." 

2. Sanctity was another characteristic of the Church 
established by our Lord. The end of the Church was 
to teach the revelation of Christ, to promulgate more 
fully the obligations of the divine law, and to im- 
part the grace necessary to enable men to fulfil them. 
The law of God is holy, and the graces of Christ tend 
directly to the sanctification of mankind. There is 
little need of argument here, since the purpose of 
our Lord is self-evident. So says the apostle : 
"Christ loved the Church, and delivered Himself up 
for it, that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the 
laver of water in the word of life. That He might 
present it to Himself, a glorious Church, not having 
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should 
be holy and without blemish." * The Church is 
called the body of Christ by reason of its actual 
union to Him. Regeneration by water and the Holy 
Ghost is the means of union with this body, and 
the door of entrance into the visible fold of salva- 



* Ephes. v. ^5-27. 



30 First Lecture. 

tion. "In one Spirit were we all baptized into one 
body, and in one Spirit have we all been made to 
drink. And as the body is one and hath many 
members, and all the members of the body, where- 
as they are many, yet are one body, so also is 
Christ." * "As many of yon as have been bap- 
tized in Christ have put on Christ. "f 

Each member thus regenerated and baptized into 
Christ becomes the temple of God. "Yon are the 
temple of the living God, as God saith, ' I will dwell 
in them and walk among them ; and I will be their 
God, and they shall be my people." % "Know 
you not that your members are the temple of the 
Holy Ghost, who is in you \ " § The temple of God 
is holy and sanctified by His presence ; and the 
body of believers, or the Church, is the home of His 
redeeming energy. ' ' In Him all the building, being 
framed together, groweth up into a holy temple in 
the Lord. In whom you also are built together into 
an habitation of God in the Spirit." || The company 
of those who are born again of water and the Holy 
Ghost, who are one with Christ by a substantial 
union, who are nourished by His sacred flesh, is of 
necessity holy. "A Christian," says St. Augustine, 



* 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13. f Gal. iii. 

§l'Cor. vi. 19. 



17. % 2 Cor. vi. 16. 

|| Sphes. ii. 21, 22. 



The Divine Institution of the Creech. 31 

" ought to fear nothing so much as to be separated 
from the body of Christ (the Church). For if he be 
separated from the body of Christ, he is not a mem- 
ber of Christ ; if he is not a member of Christ, he 
is not quickened by His Spirit" (Tract XX VII. in 
Joan.) 

All these prerogatives the Church of Christ pos- 
sesses and can never lose. The gifts which are hers 
are for her children, and tend to purify and sanctify 
them. They do not in any way destroy the freedom 
of the will, and therefore all her members are on pro- 
bation. It is for them to accept and improve the 
wonderful graces of redemption, and it is in their 
power to refuse and despise them. 

The net which St. Peter draws to the land is full 
of good and bad fishes. The tares will grow with the 
wheat until the time of harvest. But they who drink 
of the waters of life, whicli flow in the city of God, 
will be daily transformed into the likeness of their di- 
vine head, and grow from strength to strength. They 
will follow in the steps of our Lord and His saints, 
and in their heavenward way leave the world and 
sense behind them. Such fruits must we expect in 
the garden which God hath planted ; and the Church 
of His Son will in every age bear children who shall 
wear the image, as they partake the life, of their Di- 
vine Original. The spirituality which she "teaches 



32 



First Lecture. 



will be above all merely human phases of piety. It 
will be against the spirit of the world, which seeks to 
compromise between the supremacy of God and the 
self-will of men. It will wear no soft raiment, nor 
dwell in kings' courts. It will offer no incense to 
worldly pride or vanity. It will seek ever the shel- 
ter of Calvary, and in utter humiliation dwell under 
the all-healing arms of the cross. Such a spiritual- 
ity has produced the saints of the Church of Jesus 
Christ. They have been born of her travail, have 
been nourished at her bosom, and have never been 
found out of her arms. The very name of saint is 
as peculiar to the Catholic Church, as is the great and 
supernatural reality. 

3. The Church founded by our Blessed Lord was 
not for one generation nor for one nation, but for all 
times and all places. It is, therefore, essentially Ca- 
tholic. In this respect it differed from the Jewish 
economy, which was purely national. It must exist 
in every age in the unchanging confession of His 
name. The aj)ostolic commission concerns the whole 
world. The pastorship of St. Peter embraces all the 
flock of Christ gathered from all tribes and tongues. 
Such was the meaning of the Pentecostal gift, when 
every land heard in its own language the gospel of 
salvation. "All power is given to me in heaven 
and in earth. Going, therefore, teach all nations, 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 33 

baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to 
observe all things whatsoever I have command- 
ed you." * " Simon, son of John, lovest thou me 
more than these 1 Feed my lambs ; feed my sheep, "f 
' ' You shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and 
in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the utter- 
most part of the earth." % The Church then estab- 
lished by Christ, coming from the one God, in the 
strictest unity, was to spread throughout the earth, 
growing like a fruitful vine, and bringing the re- 
deemed into substantial union with the Redeemer. 
Any other view of the Church, while it would con- 
tradict the plain words of Scripture and the facts of 
our Lord' s life, would also render the whole plan of 
Christ useless to the successive generations of men. 
Any body which is not truly Catholic, both in time 
and place, cannot possess the characteristics of the 
Christian Church. Its separation from the visible 
unity of Christ's fold condemns it, and its modern 
birth stamps its origin as merely human. Such has 
ever been the unchanging Christian doctrine. St. 
Alexander, a.d. 322, expresses the universal confes- 
sion of antiquity : "We acknowledge one, and only 
one, Catholic and Apostolic Church, ever, indeed, in- 



* St. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. + St. Jolmxxi. 15-17. % Aets 8 - 



34 



First Lecture. 



capable of being overthrown, even though the whole 
world should choose to war against it, and which 
will conquer every unhallowed opposition of the 
heterodox" (Ep. de Arian.) 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, a.d. 363, thus writes: 
" The faith which we rehearse contains in order the 
following : £ And into one baptism for the remission 
of sins, and into one holy Catholic Church.' Now, 
it is called Catholic because it is throughout the 
whole world, from one end of the earth to the other, 
and because it teaches universally and completely all 
the doctrines which ought to come to men's knowledge 
concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly 
and earthly. And it is rightly called Church, be- 
cause it calls forth and assembles together all men." 
" 'And into one holy Catholic Church,' in order that 
thou mayest flee the meetings of heretics and con- 
tinue to remain in the Holy Catholic Church in 
which thou wast regenerated. And if ever thou 
art sojourning in any city, inquire not simply where 
the Lord's house is (for the sects of the profane 
also attempt to call their own places houses of the 
Lord), nor merely where is the church, but where is 
the Catholic church. For this is, indeed, the peculiar 
name of this holy mother of us all, which is indeed 
the spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begot- 
ten Son of God" (Catech. XVIII.) 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 35 

" Christian is my name," says St. Pacian, a.d. 
372, "but Catholic is my surname. That names me 
and describes me ; by it am I proved, by it desig- 
nated." 

In like manner says St. Augustine: " The argu- 
ment of peoples and nations keeps me — an authority 
begun with miracles, nourished with hope, confirmed 
by antiquity. The succession of priests from the 
chair of the Apostle Peter keeps me — the apostle 
unto whom the Lord after His resurrection commit- 
ted His sheep to be fed. Finally, the name itself of 
the Catholic Church keeps me — a name which, in the 
midst of so many heresies, this Church alone has, 
not without cause, held possession of. Though all 
heretics would fain have themselves called Catholics, 
yet to the inquiry of any stranger, 1 Where is the 
meeting of the Catholic Church held \ ' no heretic 
would dare to point out his own basilica or house" 
(T. VIII. contra Ep. Manichsei Fundam.) 

These testimonies of the early Christian Fathers 
are a sufficient evidence of the nature of that Church 
which represented Christ to them, and taught them 
the truths He Himself had revealed. There has been 
no change in Christianity since their day ; and the 
Church of the present age is still the same body of 
the Lord and temple of the Holy Ghost. For His 
word cannot be broken and His promise cannot fail. 



36 



First Lecture. 



"Heaven and earth may pass away : His words can- 
not pass away." 

4. The apostles were commissioned by onr Lord to 
found and perpetuate His Church. Instructed by 
Him in "the things which pertained to His king- 
dom,"* and confirmed by the Pentecostal gift of the 
Holy Ghost, they began the work of evangelizing the 
world. Under the direction of St. Peter they filled 
up the Apostolic College and established the various 
orders of the Christian ministry. The Acts of the 
Apostles are only the inspired narrative of their la- 
bors. The Christian Church is therefore necessarily 
apostolic, as from the apostles come the succession 
of the priesthood and the tradition of doctrine re- 
vealed by the Word incarnate. As Almighty God 
established only one Church, and as the apostles 
were the first ministers of His Gospel, so the mem- 
bers of Christ have continued from the earliest day 
"in the doctrine of the apostles, in the communi- 
cation of the breaking of bread, and in prayers." f 
Thus was the Church "built upon the foundation 
of the apostles." % 

"The apostles," says St. Clement, a.d. 68, "have 
preached to us from the Lord Jesus Christ ; Jesus 
Christ from God. Christ, therefore, was sent by God, 

* Acts i. 3. f Acts ii. 42. % Ephes. ii. 20. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 37 

and the apostles by Christ." This apostolicity as an 
essential note of the Church is clearly stated by St. 
Irenseus, a.d. 178, whose words are an argument, as 
well as a testimony to fact. ' ' In every church there 
is for those who would see the truth the tradition 
of the apostles made manifest throughout the whole 
world ; and we have it in our power to enumerate 
those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in 
the churches, and the successors of those bishops 
down to ourselves. But as it would be a very long 
task to enumerate in such a volume as this the suc- 
cessions of all the churches, pointing out that tradi- 
tion which the greatest and most ancient and uni- 
versally known Church of Rome, founded and con- 
stituted by the two most glorious apostles, Peter 
and Paul, derives from the apostles, and that faith 
which through the succession of her bishops has 
come to us, we confound all those who in any way, 
whether through complacency, or vainglory, or blind- 
ness, or perverse opinion, assemble otherwise than 
as behooveth them. 

" For to this Church, on account of more potent 
principality, it is necessary that every church, that 
those who are on every side faithful, resort, in which 
Church ever, by those who are on every side, has been 
preserved that tradition which is from the apostles. 
The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built 



38 



First Lecture, 



up that Church, committed the sacred office of the 
episcopacy to Linus, of whom Paul makes mention in 
his Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacle- 
tus, and after him, the third from the apostles who 
had that episcopacy, was Clement, who had seen and 
conferred with the blessed apostles, and who had 
still before his eyes their familiar preaching and 
tradition ; and not he only, for many were then still 
alive who had been instructed by the apostles. To 
this Clement succeeded Evaristus, and to Evaristus 
Alexander. Next to him, and thus the sixth from 
the apostles, Sixtus was appointed, and after him 
Telesphorus, who suffered a glorious martyrdom ; 
next Hyginus, then Pius, after whom was Anicetus. 
To Anicetus succeeded Soter, and to him, the twelfth 
in succession from the apostles, succeeded Eleuthe- 
rius, who now holds the episcopate. By this order 
and succession both that tradition which is in the 
Church from the apostles, and the preaching of the 
truth, have come down to us. And this is a most 
complete demonstration that the vivifying faith is 
one and the same which from the apostles even until 
now has been preserved in the Church and transmit- 
ted in truthfulness " ("Adv. Hseres.," L. III.) 

Says St. Jerome, a.d. 390 : "I will lay before you 
a brief and plain sentiment of my mind. We are to 
abide in that Church which, founded by the apos- 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 39 

ties, endures even unto this day. Whenever you 
hear those who are said to be Christ's named, not 
after the Lord Jesus Christ, but after some one else 
— as, for example, Marcionites, Yalentinians, men of 
the mountain or of the plain — know that it is not 
Christ's Church but the synagogue of Antichrist. 
For from this very fact that they were instituted at 
a later period they evince themselves to be those 
whom the apostle foretold were to be" (T. II. adv. 
Luciferi.) 

St. Augustine argues plainly in language which is 
suitable to the errors of every age. ' ' If an angel 
from heaven should say to you : ' Leave the Chris- 
tianity of the universe, and hold to that of the party 
of Donatus,' he ought to be anathema, because he 
would attempt to cut thee olf from the whole, and 
to push thee down into a party, and to alienate thee 
from the promises of God. For if the order of bish- 
ops succeeding to each other is to be considered, how 
much more securely do we reckon from Peter him- 
self, to whom, bearing a figure of the Church, the 
Lord said : ' Upon this rock will I build my Church, 
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it 
(T. II. Ep. LIII.) 

The Council of Chalcedon, a.d. 451, in its synodal 
epistle thus addresses Pope Leo : " What sublimer 
cause for gladness than faith? What more full of 



40 



First Lecture. 



exulting joy than the Lord's knowledge, which the 
Saviour delivered to us from above unto salvation, 
saying : ' Going, teach all nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you,' which thou, 
Leo, who hast been appointed as the voice of bless- 
ed Peter unto all men, hast preserved as a golden 
chain brought down to us by the ordinance of Him 
who imposed it ? " 

The apostolicity of the Christian Church is, then, 
its essential note, by which it is easily designated. 
There is no occasion for argument. The whole 
question is one of fact. The one visible body of 
Christ descends from the apostles with a unity which 
has never been impaired, and a continuity of succes- 
sion which is evident to all men. In the case of 
schisms or heresies, the time of their separation from 
the apostolic Church is clearly shown by history, or 
the date of their birth is manifest with the origin 
from which they sprang. Tims historical Christian- 
ity, as of necessity it goes back to Christ, stands un- 
challenged upon the foundation of the apostles. 

Men must accept this Christianity, or frame their 
own, or be the dupes of false teachers who do not even 
pretend to be inspired. The question is simply between 
the human and the divine, between man and God. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 41 
III. 

The Promises which Jesus Christ made to His 
Church. 

In the plainest words our Divine Lord promised 
that the Church should never fail on earth, but 
should continue to the end of time ; and that she 
should be so kept by His guidance that she should 
never err in the knowledge and teaching of the truth. 
Indefectibility of life and infallibility in faith were 
therefore the gifts to the Church, for which Jesus 
Christ pledged His divine power and veracity. 

1. The Church founded by Christ can never cease 
to be, because He has promised to be with her until 
the end of time. " All power is given unto me in 
heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach all na- 
tions ; and behold, I am with you all days, even unto 
the consummation of the world." * These words re- 
spected the visible Church and the visible priesthood 
in the successors of the apostles, with whom, in the 
discharge of their office, God the Son promised to be 
at all times. They cannot, therefore, fail ; and as 
there is no priesthood without the Church, nor any 
succession from the apostles, the Church must survive 
all perils and stand until the second coming of Christ. 



* St. Matt, xxviii. 18-20. 



42 



First Lecture. 



The same perpetuity of life is pledged in the me- 
morable words to St. Peter: "Thou art Peter, and 
on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it." * The firmness of 
Peter in faith is the stable foundation, and no power 
of human malice or diabolical fury can shake it. 
The gates or the strongest force of hell are unable to 
prevail against the Church. Here, then, perpetual 
life is promised ; for, surely, if through the arts of 
sin the Church could be destroyed, the promise of 
our Lord would be utterly broken, and His words ab- 
solutely false. All the prophecies of the new dis- 
pensation declare the perpetuity of the kingdom of 
Christ in comparison with human kingdoms, and even 
with the Jewish theocracy, which was preparatory 
and temporary. " God will set up a kingdom that 
shall never be destroyed, and His kingdom shall not 
be delivered up to another people ; and it shall break 
in pieces and shall consume all these kingdoms ; and 
itself shall stand for ever." f Such are the words 
of the archangel to the Blessed Mother of God : " The 
Lord shall give unto Him the throne of David His 
father, and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for 
ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end." % 

The perpetuity of life thus pledged to the Church 



* St. Matt. xvi. 18. 



f Daniel ii. 44. 



% St. Luke i. 33. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 43 

by the incarnate God respects all her essential notes, 
and guarantees to her the unfailing possession of all 
her endowments. Tims she could not exist at all 
without being visible, and must, therefore, be visible 
as the light of the world to the end of time. If she 
were not one she would neither be, nor be visible, 
since, torn to fragments, her life would be destroyed. 
To make the impossible supposition of the Church in 
a state of division, reason itself shows the contradic- 
tion in terms. The fragments are not the Church 
taken separately, because then there would be many 
churches, and not one. The fragments are not the 
Church taken collectively, since there is by the very 
supposition no union between them, internal or exter- 
nal. The only conclusion would be that either one of 
the so-called fragments is the Church, to the exclu- 
sion of the others, or that there is no Church at all. 
In truth, disunion is destruction ; and to follow the 
Sacred Scriptures you might as well attempt to 
divide the indivisible oneness of G-od, as break in 
pieces the one Church. In like manner sanctity, 
catholicity, and apostolicity are the prerogatives 
of the Church of Christ, which she must possess at 
all times and in all places, thus witnessing to the di- 
vinity of her Founder until His second coming to 
judge the world. 

Nothing can be plainer than these words we have 



Fie st Lecture. 



quoted from Scripture, and the demonstration de- 
duced from them is incontrovertible. Reason teaches 
that whatever the Church was, it must continue to 
be, since the redemption of Christ is for all men of 
every age. If it could fail, then the promise of God 
fails with it, and the immutable purposes of the Deity 
are frustrated. This contradiction of God is impos- 
sible. 

Moreover, the Church is called in Holy Scripture 
"the body of Christ." It is "His body, and the 
fulness of Him who is filled all in all." * These words 
of inspiration are in no sense a figure, but they 
teach. the substantial union of the Church and its 
members to Christ, the head and source of life. 
That which is joined by actual union to Him who is 
life imperishable and eternal, can never cease to live. 
The Church is a divine organization, a living body 
possessing the graces and endowments of its head. 
It can, therefore, no more cease to be, than the Su- 
preme Lord who gives it life or the co-eternal Spirit 
who dwells within it. " For in one Spirit have we all 
been baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gen- 
tiles, bond or free ; and in one Spirit we have all 
been made to drink." f 

"For this cause," says St. Ignatius, a.d. 107, 



* Ephes. i. 23. 



f 1 Cor. xii. 13. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 45 



"did the Lord take the ointment on His head, that 
He might breathe incorruption upon the Church" 
(Ep. ad Ephes., XVII.) 

And St. Cyprian : " The Church is one which, hav- 
ing obtained the grace of eternal life, both lives for 
ever and gives life to the people of God" (Ep. 
LXXL ad Quintum). 

St. Alexander of Alexandria: "We also confess 
one, and one only, Catholic Church, which is always 
incapable of being overthrown, even though the 
whole world choose to war with it ; and it is trium- 
phant over every unhallowed revolt of the hetero- 
dox, the Master of the household Himself having 
made us confident, in that He exclaims, ' Have con- 
fidence ; I have overcome the world' " (Ep. de Arian. 
Hseres.) 

"The Church hath" says St. Ambrose, "her sea- 
sons of persecutions and of peace. For she seems to 
wane like the moon, but she fails not. She may be 
overcast with clouds, but fail she cannot " (T. I. 
Hexoem., L. IV.) 

St. John Chrysostom triumphantly exclaims : "The 
Church is stronger than heaven. 4 Heaven and earth 
shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' 
What words ? ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock 
will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it.' If thou believe not the word, 



46 



First Lecture. 



believe the facts. How many tyrants would fain 
have overcome the Church ! They prevailed not. 
Where are those that warred against her % They are 
unnamed ; they are buried in oblivion. But where 
is the Church? She shines brighter than the sun. 
They are quenched ; she is immortal" (T. III.) 

"This is the holy Church," says St. Augustine, 
"the one Church, the true Church, the Catholic 
Church, which fights against all heresies. She may 
fight, but not be defeated. All heresies have gone 
out from her like useless branches cut off from the 
vine, but she remains in her own root, in her own 
vine, in her own charity. The gates of hell cannot 
prevail against her" (T. IV. de Symbolo). 

2. Infallibility in faith is also the endowment of 
the Church, by the promise and power of Jesus 
Christ. One of the principal offices of the Church is 
to teach the revelation of God to the world. It can- 
not teach without the authority of Christ, and is, 
therefore, necessarily infallible, as a divine teacher. 
If its faith w^ere to fail, it would cease to be the agent 
of the Son of God, and there would no longer be a 
Church. The power to teach in the name of God the 
Word, is part of the original commission of the apos- 
tles and their successors ; and the words of Holy 
Scripture express this gift in the plainest terms, 
while our Lord promises the Holy Spirit as the con- 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 47 



tinual guide of the Church into all truth. The priest- 
hood with whom Christ has promised ever to be, can- 
not fall into error. The Church which the Holy 
Ghost inhabits cannot fail in the knowledge of the 
truth. "All power is given to me in heaven and in 
earth. Going, therefore, teach all nations. And be- 
hold, I am with you all days, even to the consumma- 
tion of the world." * " He that heareth you, heareth 
me ; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me." f " I 
will ask the Father, and He shall give you another 
Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever, the 
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, be- 
cause it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him ; but you 
shall know Him, because He shall abide with you 
and shall be in you." % 

"When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will 
teach you all truth." § 

"And He gave some apostles, and some prophets, 
and some evangelists, and some pastors and doctors, 
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the 
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ ; until 
we all meet in the unity of faith and of the know- 
ledge of the Son of God." || 

"The Church of the living God, the pillar and 
ground of the truth." T 

* St. Matt, xxviii. 20. f St. Luke x. 16. % St. John xiv. 16-18. 
§ St. John xvi. 13. || Ephes. iv. 11, 12. f 1 Tim. iii. 15. 



FiL' st Lecture. 



" Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try 
the spirits if they be of God, because many false 
prophets are gone out into the world. We are of 
God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is 
not of God, heareth ' us not. By this we know the 
Spirit of truth and the spirit of error." * 

"If he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee 
as the heathen and the publican." f 

The office of St. Peter as the head of the Church 
is plainly taught in the Sacred Scriptures. Our 
Lord solemnly commended to him His whole flock 
and charged him to feed it. Three times in answer 
to the question, " Lovest thou me more than these ? " 
(the other apostles), He said to him, "Feed my 
lambs ; feed my sheep." % These words have no 
meaning, unless they give to him the sx>ecial office of 
guiding and nourishing the whole flock of Christ. 
The flock is to be fed with heavenly doctrine and 
nourished with the faith. So in the most manifest 
language our Lord promised to him and his suc- 
cessors firmness in faith. In the darkest of all hours, 
when not the disciple but the Master, not the Yicar 
of Christ but the Son of God, hung on the igno- 
minious cross, rejected by the whole earth, He says 
to Peter, and to him alone : "I have prayed for thee, 



* 1 St. John iv. 1-6. f St. Matt, xviii. 17. t St. John xxi. 15-17. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 49 

that thy faith fail not; and thou being once con- 
verted, strengthen thy brethren." * This commis- 
sion to feed the flock, and this efficacious prayer for 
Peter's faith, were the fulfilment of the promise, 
"Thou, Simon, to whom the Eternal Father hath 
given a clear sight of the mystery of the Incarnation, 
art what I have called thee— a rock ; and on this 
rock I will build my Church, against which the gates 
of hell shall not prevail." 

The head of the divine Church cannot fail in his 
office. The teacher of all men cannot err. The rock 
on which the Church is founded cannot be shaken. 
Otherwise the Church is committed to false doctrine 
and perishes, the flock are poisoned with the bane- 
ful food of heresy, and the superstructure falls 
in pieces upon its trembling foundation, and the 
word of the Grod-Man becomes a lie. St. Ambrose 
only echoes the words of Christ : ' ' Where Peter is, 
there is the Church ; and where the Church is, there 
is life eternal." 

The argument from these words of our Lord is 
clearly summed up by St. Leo, a.d. 440, who not 
only gives the received interpretation of the passage, 
but also the unerring voice of the Church: "Our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, so in- 



* St. Luke xxii. 32. 



50 



First Lecture. 



stituted the worship of that divine religion which 
He wished, by the grace of God, to shine unto all 
nations, as that the truth which had been previously 
contained in the law and the prophets should, by 
means of the apostolic trumpet, go forth unto the 
salvation of the universe, as it was written : ' Their 
sound hath gone forth unto all the earth, and their 
words unto the ends of the world' (Psalm xviii.) 
But the Lord willed the sacrament of this office to 
pertain to all the apostles in such manner as that He 
placed it principally in the blessed Apostle Peter, 
the chief of all the apostles ; and wishes His gifts 
to flow unto the whole body from Peter as from a 
head, that whoso should dare withdraw from the 
solidity of Peter might know himself to be an alien 
from the divine mystery. For it was His will that 
this man,- whom He had taken into the fellowship of 
an indivisible unity, should be named that which 
Himself was, saying : ' Thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock will I build My Church,' that the building 
of the everlasting temple might, by the marvellous 
gift of the grace of God, be compacted together in 
the solidity of Peter, by this firmness strengthening 
His Church, so as that neither human temerity 
should be able to injure it, nor the gates of hell 
X>revail against it" (Ep. X. ad Episcopos per Prov. 
Yienn.) 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 51 

So St. Clirysostom calls "Peter the leader of the 
choir of the apostles, the mouth of the disciples, the 
pillar of the Church, the buttress of the faith, the 
foundation of the confession, the fisherman of the 
universe" (Horn, de decern mill. Talent.) 

And St. Jerome says: "I have thought that I 
ought to consult the chair of Peter, and the faith that 
was commended by the mouth of the apostle, seek- 
ing now the food of my soul where in other days I 
received the robe of Christ. Following no chief but 
Christ, I am joined in communion with your holiness 
— that is, with the chair of Peter. Upon that rock I 
know that the Church is built. Whoever eats the 
Lamb out of this house is profane. Whoever gath- 
ereth not with thee, scattereth — that is, whoever is 
not of Christ is of Antichrist" (Ep. XV. ad Damas.) 

To this effect are the words of the Vatican Council : 
" This gift of truth and of faith which fails not, was 
divinely bestowed upon Peter and his successors in 
this chair, that they should exercise their high office 
for the salvation of all ; that through them the uni- 
versal flock of Christ should be turned away from 
the poisonous food of error, and should be nourished 
with the food of heavenly doctrine ; and that, the 
occasion of schism being removed, the entire Church 
should be preserved one, and, planted on her founda- 
tion, should stand firm against the gates of hell." 



52 



First Lecture. 



IV. 

The Facts of History are in accordance with the 
Words and Promise of Christ. 

The assailants of the Catholic Church are placed 
in a singular position ; for to defend themselves 
they are forced to distort the plain language of our 
Lord, and, could their assertions be believed, make 
His whole work a failure. They are even driven to 
the position of attacking His veracity or wisdom ; 
His veracity if He made declarations which were 
false ; His wisdom if He used language likely to de- 
ceive. Taking the Holy Scriptures from the Church, 
and totally unable to prove their inspiration with- 
out her testimony, they then proceed to charge the 
Son of God with folly in using words signifying that 
which He did not mean, and which, with their inter- 
pretation, no tyro in knowledge would have used. 

But we proceed to show that the God of truth did 
not lie when He promulgated His Gospel, and that 
the facts of history prove His divinity and the con- 
sequent divine character of His Church. 

The Church which He established upon Peter, as 
its rock of firmness, has never failed, has always pos- 
sessed the essential notes of the Church, and to this 
day fulfils the promises of her Founder. The past is 
a sufficient guarantee for the future. This can be 



The Divide Institution of tee Church. 53 

said of no other organization, and, therefore, the Ca- 
tholic Church is the one Church of Christ. If this 
be not admitted, then there is no Church, and has 
been no Church on earth, and Jesus Christ and 
Christianity fall together. 

1. The Catholic Church was founded by our Lord 
as a perfect unity, with all the necessary elements of 
a visible organization. It traces its being back to 
Him and His creative words, through the succession 
of her bishops from the apostles, and their commu- 
nion with the Apostolic See of Peter. There is no 
evidence that our Lord founded any other Church 
than the one He built upon Peter. Nothing in the 
Scriptures or in history can be found to support 
any such absurd proposition. The language of the 
Christian Fathers already quoted is the testimony of 
irreproachable witnesses as to fact, besides the state- 
ment of received Christian doctrine. 

It is not to be denied that heresies arose, and that 
there were schisms from the Church. They began in 
the apostolic day. "They went out from us; but 
they were not of us," says St. John. " For if they 
had been of us they would no doubt have remained 
with us." * That all the baptized should persevere 
in the unity of faith was not to be expected. ." Sen- 



* 1 St. John ii. 19. 



54 



First Lecture. 



sual men will separate themselves, having not the 
Spirit."* But there is not an instance of separa- 
tion from the commnnion of the Church, where 
pride or self-will has not been the cause. Some- 
times it has been resistance to lawful authority, 
or unhallowed ambition, sometimes it has been 
the rejection of essential doctrines of faith, some- 
times the resistance of princes against the Lord 
and His Christ. In every case the date of heresy 
or schism can be given, and the causes which 
led to separation from the one Church made 
known. In every case the founder of sects was 
some foolish, and often very sinful man, who 
thus ventured to usurp the divine prerogatives, and 
make himself the founder of a pretended church. 
With the mere testimony of history such separa- 
tions are condemned, as having no part nor lot in 
Christ. There being only one organization which 
can trace its beginning to Christ, and only one 
communion connected with the see of Peter, the 
question is settled by the voice of history. 

But singularly has the divine promise guarded 
and maintained through nineteen centuries this 
Church which Jesus Christ founded. Every ene- 
my that human or diabolical nature could devise has 



*St. Jude 19. 



The Divine Institution of the Church 55 

risen up against her. The gates of hell have 
striven in vain to destroy her. "The kings of the 
earth stood up, and the princes met together 
against her."' * She has warred with the instincts 
of human passion, the pride of power, and the 
thirst of avarice. Cruelties before unheard of have 
been the portion of her children, and the persecu- 
tion of fire and sword has spent itself upon her 
in vain. The flatteries of worldly greatness have 
been as unable to break her firmness as the ar- 
mies of tyrants. The greatest grief of all, the 
apostasy of her own children, has given the 
enemy occasion to blaspheme ; but nothing has 
been able to rend her unity to the chair of Pe- 
ter, and through it to Christ. And at this day 
she stands in perfect oneness of faith and in 
the strictest visible unity, with a loyalty to her 
head which emulates the brightest ages of her 
wonderful life. Her very existence is a miracle of 
divine power and love, marvellous enough to con- 
vince the honest and sincere. While thus she stands 
with a oneness confessed and admired, with the un- 
disputed succession from Christ, there is, and there 
has been, no other claimant of her prerogatives. 
The schisms which separated from her in the early 



* Psalm ii. 2. 



56 



First Lecture. 



ages were the fruit of sinful error concerning the 
divinity and humanity of her Founder. Fearful in 
their extent and in their attack upon the essential 
truths of Christianity, they divided among them- 
selves, and either passed away, or have survived 
in feeble sects without life and without power to 
propagate themselves, or profess rightly the Chris- 
tian faith. 

The separation of the great portion of the East 
from Catholic unity was the work of worldly ambi- 
tion and the fruit of imperial tyranny. In every 
case where there is a semblance of unity, it is due 
to the arm of the state, which for its own purposes 
keeps a subservient schism as the slave of its ambi- 
tion. 

Even where the apostolic order is maintained, and 
the light of early tradition has not entirely gone 
out, there is only the lifeless profession of apos- 
tolic faith with the utter want of Christian love. 
u There is only the name of being alive where death 
reigns." * 

The great Eastern schism is actually enslaved by 
the "Russian emperor, who really holds it together, 
and administers its powers both of legislation and of 
discipline. The bishops are completely unable to ex- 



* Apoc. iii. 1. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 57 

ercise their rights in the government of the Church, 
while their subserviency is to them not only a condi- 
tion of being, but a kind of dogma. The regulation 
published by Paul I. declares that "the supreme au- 
thority given by God to the Autocrat is equally ex- 
tended over the ecclesiastical order ; hence ecclesias- 
tics must observe towards the czar, as towards the 
chief chosen by God Himself, the most devoted 
fidelity, and show to him in all religious and civil 
matters the due obedience." 

The catechisms teach that — " 1. The highest father- 
ly dignity, next to God, is that of the czar. 2. The 
czar is the first governor under God. 3. The czar 
has nobody on earth higher than himself. 4. The 
czar is not subject to any human law. 5. The spiri- 
tual governors come next to the czar." * For the 
government of the Russian Church the czar, as 
supreme head, administers his office through the 
Holy Synod of St. Petersburg, 'established in 1721, 
and the bishops, as is well known, are his creatures, 
to enjoy only the liberties which he permits. 

The Russian Church thus embraces nearly all the 
various parts of the empire, but the Eastern churches 
are many and divided, both as to discipline and doc- 
trine. The Orthodox Church of Greece considers 

♦Tondini, " Pope of Rome and the Popes of the Oriental Church," 
pp. 78-9, 90-93. 



5« 



First Lecture. 



itself independent of the czar, and by a synod held 
in July, 1833, has recognized the king as its supreme 
head, who appoints a royal delegate to assist at the 
meetings of the governing synod, whose countersign 
is necessary to the validity of every decision or act. 

In the Turkish Empire, embracing the patriarch- 
ates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and 
Jerusalem, the ecclesiastical condition is still more 
perplexing. The Yery Rev. Dean Stanley remarks 
that "in Constantinople the sultan still exercises the 
right which he inherited from the last of the Caesars, 
and the virtual appointment and deposition of the 
patriarchs still places in his hands the government 
of the Byzantine Church ; a power, no doubt, more 
scandalous and pernicious in the hands of the Mus- 
sulman than it was in the hands of the Christian 
despot, but not more decided and absolute." * 

In no portion of the divided Oriental Church are 
the bishops free to exercise their office, and there is 
no bond of union between the different states, which 
each claim to govern their own people, in religious 
as well as civil matters, without subjection to any 
archbishop or patriarch whatever, f The different 
branches cf the Eastern communion are in many re- 
spects better than the contradictory sects of Protes- 

* "Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church,"' I. p. 41. 
f See Tondini, chap. iii. 



The Divine Institution of the Church, 59 

tants, but in no proper sense can they be called one 
Church. To consider them or any of them as the 
one Church of Christ would be the height of absur- 
dity. If the Incarnate Lord has no better represen- 
tative of His religion than these lifeless and divided 
communities, His work has failed on earth. The 
recognition of the sacerdotal character is so feeble 
among them that the clergy have fallen e^en below 
the Protestant standard. Says Father Gagarin : "I 
do not believe that anywhere can be found a clergy 
fallen so low as the Russian, and so little answering 
to that which we might expect it to be. As to mak- 
ing Jesus Christ known and loved, or pointing out to 
souls the way to tread in His steps, it does not even 
dream of such a thing. The salvation of souls re- 
deemed by the blood of Jesus Christ concerns it not; 
its thought goes not beyond a few formalities under- 
stood after a Jewish fashion." "Even among the 
regular clergy the fundamental basis of all religious 
life is wanting. It is not fear of the world and its 
seductions, the attraction of solitude and prayer, the 
desire of leading a life of penitence or of working 
towards perfection ; it is not zeal for souls, love for 
Jesus Christ, the need of devotion and self-denia], 
that fill their convents." " It would be vain to 
look in the Russian Church for teaching congrega- 
tions strongly organized, faithful to their traditions 



60 



First Lecture. 



and method. There is no longer any liberty of ac- 
tion left even to the bishops in the direction of their 
seminaries." * 

The Moscow Gazette of October, 1866, admits the 
disunion of the Russian communion, and the evils 
which so far prevail as to form the basis of the 
opinion that the Church is transformed into a po- 
litical institution and is in a state of comparative 
inaction and death. 

"If," says Gagarin, " we pass to the moral autho- 
rity, to the influence of the bishops, we shall not be 
wrong in affirming that it is almost nothing. As to 
pastoral letters, they are never heard of. The dis- 
courses they pronounce on solemn occasions no one 
cares about. They can be haughty in the presence 
of their clergy, can surround themselves with a cer- 
tain pomp, demand of their inferiors excessive marks 
of respect, and, alas ! are no bolder or more indepen- 
dent in the presence of the great. People never hear 
them speak with evangelic liberty. Their action on 
minds, on society is nothing." 

"The Church of Constantinople is subject to the 
sultan, yet she has the appearance of a distinct so- 
ciety, and, though wearing chains, still lives. In 
Russia the Church has no life of its own ; in every - 



* Gagarin on " The Russian Clergy," pp. 47, 86, 113. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. Gi 

thing she receives impulse from without. The clergy 
wear mitres and copes ; this is the one respect dis- 
tinguishing them from the other functionaries of the 
state. The Russian Church is not subjected, she is 
absorbed, by the state ; she is an inert instrument, a 
body without a soul." * 

The Protestant communities, without an exception, 
derive their birth from the rjeriod of the so-called Re- 
formation, and do not possess the slightest preten- 
sion to unity, either visible or moral. There is not 
one of them which claims the divine right to teach 
mankind, while they all unite in denying that there 
is any such right on earth. Broken up, and still 
breaking up, into almost numberless sects, there is 
no common bond of doctrine among them ; nor even 
within the limits of any one sect is there any unity of 
faith. While it would be an insult to history and to 
reason to pretend that Jesus Christ founded them, 
it would be a still greater absurdity to seek to find 
any common religion among them. They do not 
even agree in the belief in the divine character of 
the Founder of Christianity ; so singularly has the 
providence of God divided and confounded the ad- 
versaries of His one Church. While amid sunshine 
and storm the one Church over which Peter rules 



* Gagarin, pp. 194, 262. 



02 



First Lecture. 



stands immovable, unchanged in faith, and unbroken 
in unity ; the assailants, whether they come from pa- 
gan lands or spring from her own bosom, are a very 
Babel of conflicting tongues. Their one speech is 
broken into fragments and they cannot understand 
one another. " The Lord hath confounded their 
tongue." * 

We close this portion of our argument with the 
words of St. Cyprian: "Let no one imagine that 
good men can leave the Church. The wind carries 
not away the wheat, nor does the storm overthrow 
the tree that has a solid root to rest upon. It is the 
empty straw that the tempest tosses, the unhealthy 
trees that the blow of the whirlwind casts down. 
These the Apostle John curses and smites, saying : 
' They went out from us ; but they were not of us.' 
Hence oftentimes have heresies been caused, and 
still are caused, while the perverse spirit has no 
peace, while perfidy and discord hold not unity. 
But the Lord permits these things to be, the judg- 
ment of free w T ill remaining, in order that, while 
the discrimination of truth searches our minds and 
hearts, the perfect faith of them that are approved 
may shine forth in the manifest light. The Holy 
Spirit forewarns us by the apostle, and says : 



* Genesis xi. 7. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 63 

6 There must be heresies, that they who are ap- 
proved may be manifest among you ' (1 Cor. xi. 
19). Thus are the faithful approved, thus the faith- 
less detected ; and thus even here, before the day of 
judgment, the souls of the righteous are divided 
from the unrighteous, and the wheat is separated 
from the chaff. These are they who, without ap- 
pointment from God, take upon themselves to pre- 
side over the rash persons who have been brought 
together, establish themselves as rulers without any 
lawful ordination, and assume unto themselves the 
name of bishop, though no one gives them a bishop- 
ric." * 

2. The Church of Jesus Christ is of necessity holy 
in the holiness of her doctrine, and the sancthication 
of her children. 

Does history, which presents to us the Catholic 
Church as the one representative of Christianity, 
also establish her right to the note of sanctity? 

The answer to this question is the simple state- 
ment of facts. 

For many centuries she was the only representa- 
tive on earth of the Gospel of Christ, the only 
teacher of His high and heavenly doctrine. It can 
hardly be denied that the Christian religion, which 



* "De Unitate," p. 399. 



64 



First Lecture. 



civilized the world and produced everything good 
in society, leads its followers to holiness of life. 
The doctrines taught by the Catholic Church are 
holy by the divine source from which they come, 
and they tend directly to sanctify all who em- 
brace them. They teach the strictness of our ob- 
ligations to God, and the impartial account which 
we must render to Him for every thought, word, and 
deed. And as man in his unaided strength cannot 
fulfil the law of his Maker nor accomplish the end 
of his being, the Church is provided with superna- 
tural graces and sanctifying sacraments, by which, 
in concurrence with the human will, God works in 
us to our own justification and His own glory. The 
morality of the Catholic faith is worthy of the di- 
vine voice which revealed it, and the divine power 
which sustains it. The Church is to be judged by 
those who live up to her standard of piety, and are 
faithful to her requirements. 

And throughout her whole course in every age she 
has been authenticated by many miracles and illus- 
trated by innumerable saints. Miracles, being the 
sure proof of the divine interposition, have been 
constantly worked within her communion, either to 
testify to some of her doctrines, or to show the fa- 
vor of God towards some of her children. They are 
facts to be attested by unimpeachable evidence, as 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 65 

are all facts ; and they cannot be gainsaid by hon- 
est minds who believe in the weight of human tes- 
timony. They, through the abundant goodness of 
God, occur day after day, when, as now at the 
sanctuary of Lourdes, and often since the apostolic 
age, "the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are 
cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead rise again." * 
Such was the promise of Jesus Christ to His Church : 
" These signs shall follow them that believe: in my 
name they shall- cast out devils; they shall speak 
with new tongues ; they shall take up serpents; and 
if they shall drink any deadly thing it shall not 
hurt them ; they shall lay their hands upon the 
sick, and they shall recover." f If miracles be ad- 
mitted as the proof of the divine character of the 
Catholic Church, then to sincere minds the question 
is settled. For miracles have never ceased within 
her, and they may be subjected to the most rigid 
tests by which evidence can be tried. Not a saint 
is added to the goodly company of her advocates in 
heaven, for whom God does not interpose, in some 
miraculous manner, to testify to the world his place 
at His right hand and his power to dispense His 
graces. One miracle is sufficient to vindicate the 
mission of the Catholic Church, but there are many ; 



* St. Matthew xi. 5. 



f St. Mark xvi. 17, 18. 



66 



First Lecture. 



and he who would deny them, by parity of reason- 
ing must deny nearly all the facts which depend on 
evidence. 

While God thus interposes to show the marks of 
His hand within the Catholic communion, there are 
no signs of miracles elsewhere ; and sects, with sin- 
gular blindness, not only claim no such authentica- 
tion from on high, but even deny the existence of 
miracles, and in argument attack their possibility. 
What greater proof can be given of their human 
origin, of their utter want of the notes of the true 
Church of Christ, which in every age is one with 
that of the apostolic day? 

It is also matter of history that the Catholic 
Church has ever been the mother of saints, and of 
a type of holiness which can be found only in her 
pale. The saints whose memory she celebrates have 
followed Christ in a heroic degree, imitating His self- 
denial and His renunciation of all earthly things. 
They have to the letter followed His precept, "to 
take up the cross and bear it after Him." They are 
examples of a supernatural life, and of victory over 
the flesh. They bear the unearthly character of their 
Master. "They have conquered kingdoms, wrought 
justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of 
lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the 
edge of the sword, and recovered strength from 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 67 

weakness. They were stoned, they were cut asun- 
der, they were tempted, they were put to death by 
the sword, they wandered about in sheep-skins, in 
goat-skins, being in want, distressed, afflicted, of 
whom the world was not worthy." * 'No such cha- 
racters have appeared out of the Catholic commu- 
nion. The very type of sanctity which so closely 
resembles Christ has been rejected by the sects 
which have separated from her. They have come, 
by the natural tendency of their own lifelessness, to 
scon 2 at the heroes of Christianity, to deny the merit 
of good works, and to ascribe to superstition and 
hypocrisy the asceticism of those who have denied 
themselves all things to follow their Lord. 

Among the Protestant sects there are no saints. 
There is not even the commemoration of the depart- 
ed, who have fought the good fight and won their 
crown. The prevailing theology denies the possibili- 
ty of good works, and makes justification an unreal 
imputation of the righteousness of Christ which is 
not communicated to the believer. " They teach that 
men cannot be justified before God by their own 
powers, merits, or works, but are justified freely for 
Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe they 
are received into favor and their sins forgiven for 



* Heb. xi. 33-28. 



68 



First Lecture. 



Christ's sake, who by His death has satisfied for oar 
sins. This faith doth God impute for rigliteousness 
before Him." * 

"Jesus Christ, imputing to us all His merits, and 
so many holy works which He hath done for us in 
our stead, is our righteousness. And faith is an in- 
strument that keeps us in communion with Him in 
all His benefits, which, when they become ours, are 
more than sufficient to acquit us of our sins." f 
Doctrine like this cannot be the parent of any ex- 
alted holiness, and, while it has produced much im- 
morality under the cloak of piety, we are consoled to 
know that many have not followed it to its legiti- 
mate result. The standard of sanctity beyond the 
Catholic communion is not only below that of Juda- 
ism ; it even attempts less than the higher pagan phi- 
losophy. The ascetic principle which is the essen- 
tial note of evangelical holiness is theoretically and 
practically rejected, and human nature, uncrucified, 
is left to its passions, on the condition of offering to 
God a few sentiments of repentance, faith, hope, or 
love. We may freely declare, in the light of facts, 
that holiness in the divine sight does not spring from 
any sect separated from the Church. If there be 
anything good in any one of the separated communi- 



* Augsburg Confession, Art. IV. f Belgic Confession, Art. XXII. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 69 

ties it comes from that which has been retained of 
the Catholic faith, and not from anything peculiar to 
its own system or belief. 

3. That the Church founded on Peter and in com- 
munion with the Apostolic See is Catholic^ and that 
the facts of history have vindicated her Catholicity, 
is almost too evident for an argument. In her un- 
broken unity she has spread throughout the world, 
and the voice of Peter has confirmed his brethren in 
the faith everywhere. As by the Divine Providence 
she only bears the name Catholic^ so she alone is, 
and has been that which the name represents. No 
schism has been able to imitate her universal empire. 
"The Lord hath given her the Gentiles for her in- 
heritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for her 
possession." * Sects have taken her name only to 
excite ridicule, and have never been able to claim 
any universality for themselves. Always feeble in 
their hold of faith, sometimes without a creed, they 
have been ever sectional and national, without the 
power to propagate • themselves beyond the limits 
of a country or language. Sometimes they have 
perished altogether from history, and sometimes 
they have divided and subdivided until the broken 
fragments resemble neither each other nor the schism 



* Psalm ii. 8. 



70 



First Lecture. 



which gave them birth. If Catholicity be a note of 
the true Church, the communion in union with the 
see of Peter is the only one which can claim it. 

The words of St. Optatus (a.d. 368) are as appro- 
priate now as in the day in which he uttered them : 

"Whence, then, is it that you strive to usurp un- 
to yourselves the keys of the kingdom of heaven, 
you who sacrilegiously fight against the chair of Pe- 
ter by your presumption and audacity \ Since, then, 
it is manifest and clearer than the light that we are 
in connection with so many countless nations, and 
that so many provinces are in connection with us, 
you now see that you, who are but a portion of 
one country, are by your errors separated from the 
Church, and in vain claim for yourselves the designa- 
tion of the Church with its marks, which are rather 
with us than with you ; marks which it is evident 
are so connected together and indivisible that it is 
felt that one cannot be separated from the other. 
For they are indeed reckoned by distinct names, but 
they are united in their body (the Church) as are the 
fingers on the hand, which we see are kept distinct 
by the divisions between them, whence he that holds 
one must needs hold all, as one cannot be separated 
from the rest. Add to this that we are in possession, 
not of one of these marks, but we have them as pro- 
perly ours. Of these marks, then, the chair is, as 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 71 

we have said, the first, which we have proved is ours 
through Peter ; and this first mark carries with it 
the jurisdiction" ("De Schism. Donat.," II. § 4, 6). 

"The Novatians, Arians, Patripassionists," says 
St. Augustine, "do not, as } T ou remark, communicate 
with us. But wherever they are, there is the Catho- 
lic Church, as it is in Africa, where also you Dona- 
tists are ; but not wheresoever the Catholic Church 
is, are either you or any of the various heresies. 
Whence it is apparent which is the tree that in its 
abounding fruitful ness stretches out its branches 
over the whole earth, and which are the broken 
branches that have no life from the root, and are ly- 
ing and withering each on its own ground." * 

4. The providence of God has, amid many evils 
without and within, preserved the Church which He 
founded on the rock of Peter. The gates of hell 
have struggled long and violently, but they have 
not prevailed. The firmness of the Apostolic See has 
held together the unity of the Church, and her apos- 
tolicity is a matter of history. Greater convulsions 
there could not have been ; greater conflicts can 
never arise. The hatred of effete Judaism has spent 
its strength. The sensualism of pagan philosophy 
and the force of unbridled passions have lighted the 



* St. Augustine, T. IX. L. IV. Coutr. Crescen. 



72 



First Lecture. 



fires, and sharpened the sword of devastating perse- 
cution in vain. Heresy with, the power of distorted 
reason, and schism with the license of self-will, have 
done their worst. The see of Peter remains un- 
moved, and the Church, through the Supreme Pon- 
tiff, traces through, the apostles her life to Christ the 
Redeemer. Other apostolic sees have failed, and 
the light of their candles has gone out in error and 
death. The Catholic Church alone has stood firm 
with the glories of her Pentecostal birth and the 
heritage of the apostles. 

"If any heresies," says Tertullian, a.d. 195, "dare 
to place themselves in the midst of the apostolic age, 
that they may therefore seem to have been handed 
down from the apostles, we may say, let them make 
known the originals of their churches, let them un- 
roll the line of their bishops, so coming down from 
the beginning that their first bishop had for his au- 
thor and predecessor some one of the apostles or of 
apostolic men, so he were one that continued stead- 
fast with the apostles. For in this manner do the 
apostolic churches reckon their origin, as the Church 
of the Smy means recounts that Poly carp was placed 
there by John ; as that of the Romans does that Cle- 
ment was in like manner ordained by Peter ; just as 
also the rest show those whom, being appointed by 
the apostles to the episcopate, they have as transmit- 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 73 

ters of the apostolic seed, Let the heretics counter- 
feit something of the same sort. But even though 
they should counterfeit it they will never advance a 
step. For their doctrine itself, when compared with 
that of the apostles, will, by the difference and con- 
trariety between them, declare that it neither had 
any apostle nor any apostolic man for its author ; 
because as the apostles would not have taught things 
differing from each other, so neither would apostolic 
men have set forth things contrary to the apostles. 
So let all heresies, when challenged by our churches 
to both these tests, prove themselves apostolical in 
whatever they think themselves so to be." * 

The apostolicity of the Roman Catholic Church is 
unquestioned as a matter of history ; and the date 
of every separation from her fold convicts the here- 
tic of novelty and of the loss of the apostolic gifts, 
which can only be found in unity. If she be not the 
successor of the apostolic Church and the teacher of 
the nations, then the facts of nineteen centuries are 
to be forgotten, and the promise of Jesus Christ is 
vain. As the coining of the Son of Man draws nigh 
there are many sects with no pretence to the apos- 
tolic ministry ; and schisms which have preserved 
the succession of the priesthood possess not the life 

■ * Tertullian, "De Prroscrip. Heret." 



n 



First Lecture. 



of the true vine nor the voice to profess the faith 
once delivered to the saints. Either men must give 
up historical Christianity altogether, or accept the 
Church which rests upon Peter as its representa- 
tive. If they renounce historical Christianity, then 
logically they have renounced Christ. 

5. Let us lift up our eyes, then, to the bride and 
spouse of Christ, and behold her beauties and her 
victories. She is now that which she has ever been, 
"the light of the world, and the city set upon a 
hill." The omnipotent Lord has fulfilled His word 
to His apostle. The Roman Church has stood upon 
the rock where His creating hand planted her. She 
stands there still, unmoved. With all the varied 
trials of her history, she has nothing to learn. The 
almighty arms have been her faithful protection. 
The centre of Christian faith and Christian unity, 
she is the light of all history since the incarnation 
of the Son of G-od. She converted the Jew who 
came to her altars in faith. She changed the ra- 
vening wolves of paganism into the lambs of her 
flock. She Christianized society, and stood the firm 
defence of the weak against the strong, and the 
arbiter of right to the nations. No weak or uncer- 
tain sound ever went out from her towers. No 
tyrant ever enslaved her, and no popular tumult 
ever silenced her voice. She never bent the knee to 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 75 

the oppressor, nor bought her liberty at the expense 
of justice or truth. When the leader of the rebel 
angels raised the cry on earth of false liberty and 
freedom of thought, and many of her children went 
down before the tide of revolution, she quailed not. 
' ' God was her refuge and strength, and she feared 
not when the earth was troubled and the mountains 
were removed into the heart of the sea." * She 
spoke peace to the troubled hearts and the disorder-' 
ed minds, regained the sincere, and went on to con- 
quer new lands for her Bridegroom. Society, con- 
vulsed with revolution, turned against her, and her 
own children became her oppressors. But she is 
even mightier in the gloom of her night than in the 
fall sunshine of the day. At this moment, when the 
Vicar of Christ is really a prisoner in the Vatican, 
he is mightier than all the kings of the earth, and 
around his throne over two hundred millions of 
Christians are gathered with supernatural loyalty 
and singular devotion. No age has seen a more 
complete unity of all who profess the one faith to 
the successor of St. Peter and the infallible repre- 
sentative of Christ on earth. There is no sign of 
age or weakness in this glorious Church which cen- 
turies of conflict have only strengthened. She has the 
gift of eternal youth in her promise of eternal life. 

* Psalm xlv. 1, 2. 



T6 



First Lecture. 



6. And for the indefectibility of the Roman Ca- 
tholic Church in faith, we need only ask the voice of 
history to testify to her victories for the truth, and 
her inflexible maintenance of the Christian creed 
which she received from her Founder. The Fathers 
of the Fourth Council of Constantinople assert the 
fact, which is also a matter of faith for all who be- 
lieve in Christ and His promises. "The first law of 
salvation is to keep the true faith. And whereas the 
words of our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be passed 
over, who said, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this 
rock I will build my Church,' these words which 
He spoke are proved true by facts ; for in the Apos- 
tolic See the Catholic religion has ever been preserv- 
ed unspotted, and the holy doctrine has been an- * 
nounced. Therefore, wishing never to be separated 
from the faith and teaching of this see, we hope to 
be worthy to abide in that one communion which the 
Apostolic See preaches, in which is the full and true 
firmness of the Christian religion." "By following 
in all things the authority of the Apostolic See, we 
hope to remain unshaken in our devotion to the com- 
munion of the chair of St. Peter, the true and solid 
foundation of the Church, the centre of unity and 
source of authority." * 



* Eighth General Council, a.d. 518. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 77 

While every other apostolic see has fallen at 
times into error, and been convicted of deadly he- 
resy, the see of Peter alone has maintained its stead- 
fastness, holding up by its inviolable truth the whole 
edifice of Christianity. If the voice of history be of 
any weight, it teaches this ; and if the lessons of 
nineteen centuries be ignored, then Christianity can- 
not be maintained or defended. There is no body 
which comes from Christ, no continuity of doctrine, 
and no fulfilment of the divine promises, if the Ro- 
man Catholic Church be rejected. It is idle to talk 
to a sound mind of a broken or divided Church 
which cannot speak, or of the Church of the primi- 
tive day, which has long since passed away. Either 
supposition makes the word of Christ a failure, and 
leaves the whole gospel of grace to the vagaries of 
private judgment. As for finding the one divine 
teacher, the pillar and ground of truth, among the 
legion sects of Protestantism, which mutually de- 
stroy each other, it would only be a new form of 
lunacy. "God is not the God of dissension, but of 
peace." * 

The preservation of the Church united to the see of 
Peter for so many ages, amid so many enemies, and 
above all the malice of devils or erring men, is the 



* 1 Cor. xiv. 33. 



7S 



First Lecture. 



great miracle of divine power. Among many won- 
ders of infinite love it is the greatest proof of the 
divine presence and interposition. The words spo- 
ken to the consnbstantial and incarnate Son may 
in trnth be applied to His body, the Church, which 
is His fulness.* 

"G-od, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of 
gladness above Thy fellows. Thou, O Lord, in the 
beginning didst found the earth, and the works of Thy 
hands are the heavens. They shall perish, but Thou 
shalt continue : and they shall all grow old as a gar- 
ment. And as a vesture shalt Thou change them, 
and they shall be changed : but Thou art the self- 
same, and Thy years shall not fail." f 

V. 

Christianity and the Catholic Church are synony- 
mous. 

We are now prepared to draw the conclusion 
which is abundantly evident, and declare that 
Christianity and the Catholic Church are one and 
the same thing, both theoretically and practically. 

If Christianity be taken as a system of doctrine 
revealed by Jesus Christ, and therefore necessary to 



Ephes. i. 23. 



f Heb. i. 9-12. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 79 

the salvation of man, then the Church which pre- 
serves this doctrine, and in which it lives, is its only 
actual representative. The faith of Christ cannot be 
inoperative. It must be the source of good works, 
and, being received in the heart, must flourish in the 
life. Otherwise it would die and pass away from 
earth, subject to all the changes which precede dis- 
solution. The matter of revelation cannot change 
nor in any way contradict itself, as such variation 
would be corruption. Neither can ft live and pro- 
pagate its fruits except in human hearts enlight- 
ened to perceive its beauties and speak outwardly 
its truths. No writings, however divine, would 
be sufficient to keep on earth a living faith, be- 
cause even the inspired page cannot speak, and, 
left to the unaided intellect, has no means of de- 
fending its proper meaning. The one body of Chris- 
tians who receive the apostolic faith on authority, 
and profess it without error, are the expression of 
Christianity in act ; and, in union with the infallible 
centre of truth, are the living oracles of the divine 
word. 

As the Incarnate Son is "the brightness of His 
Father's glory and the figure of His substance," * 
so is the Church, which is His body, the expression 



*Heb. i. 3. 



80 



Fib st Lecture. 



on earth of the ever-living Christ. There cannot be 
a dead body to a living head, nor a mnte and dumb 
mouth to the consubstantial Word of God. He, 
then, by whom God speaks in these last days,* by 
"whom all things were made," "the life and the 
light of men," f abides in the Church which He has 
redeemed, and of which He is the saviour.^ As 
Christianity is identified with Him, so is He identi- 
fied with His own body. 

But, as a matter of fact, we have found that He, 
the Lord of life, promised faith and incorruption to 
the Church which He founded, which His Spirit fills, 
and to which He pledged His own persevering pre- 
sence. And history has declared to us how faith- 
fully He has kept His pledge. We can in no way 
accept the faith which He revealed, unless we receive 
it in and through the Church. The light that shines 
from her is the splendor of the God-Man, " the figure 
of the divine substance." Hearing and obeying her, 
we hear the voice of Him who gave the la w and the 
prophets, and in these latter days of grace spoke the 
more wonderful words of Catholic faith. Denying 
her, we really reject His revelation, and the Chris- 
tianity we may profess is not of Him. It is the de- 
nial of His mission, and the dangerous counterfeit 



*Heb. i. 2. 



f St. John i. 3, 4. 



i Ephes. v. 23. 



The Divine Institution of the Church. 81 

of His Gfospel. He must be received whole and 
entire, God and man ; and while there is only one 
voice to speak for Him, that voice must be heard 
and obeyed. Christianity is one complete circle of 
truths which suffer neither separation nor denial. 
The Catholic Church is now, and has been for nine- 
teen centuries, the only authority on earth to de- 
clare and defend these truths. 

The doctrine concerning the Church is indeed 
clearly of divine revelation. But we beg the true 
and honest mind to look at the fact of her exis- 
tence, while, " the pillar and ground of truth," she 
stands before fallen man as "the light of the 
world," the one representative of Him who was 
born of Mary, who died for us on Calvary, and rose 
for our justification. Other great facts pass before 
us in the dim shadows of the past or the glar- 
ing light of the present. There is no fact like 
this of her existence. Standing on this world of 
sense, she takes hold of the world to come. Speak- 
ing to us in time, she tells us of eternity. She 
hath the unearthly life and character of her divine 
origin. Amid decay and death she prepares for 
immortality. She shall not fail in her lot, ' ' look- 
ing for and hastening unto the coming of the day 
of her Lord, when the heavens on fire shall be dis- 
solved, and the elements shall melt with the burn- 



82 



First Lecture. 



ing heat." * In her is the "chosen generation, the 
kingly priesthood, the holy nation, the purchased 
people, whom He hath called out of darkness into 
His marvellous light." f 



* 2 St. Peter iii. 12. 



f 1 St. Peter ii. 9. 



Lecture Second, 



THE PRO TEST ANT REFORMATION AND 
THE CHURCH. 



Lecture Second. 



THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION AND THE CHURCH 



" The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly from temptation, but 
to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be tormented; and 
especially them who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness 
and despise government ; audacious, self-willed, they fear not to bring 
in sects, blaspheming." — 2 St. Peter ii. 9, 10. 

the preceding lecture we have briefly called at- 
tention to the existence of the Catholic Church, 
and its divine institution. The Church is the most 
sacred work of Jesus Christ, His body, the company 
of those who are substantially united to Him, to 
which He has promised perpetual life and victory. 
His whole mission on earth is identified with this 
Church, which represents Him to men and teaches 
His revelation. 

The religious movement of the sixteenth century, 
commonly called the Protestant Reformation, began 
with an attack upon this Church, lives by opposition 
to her doctrines, and has led to the denial of any 
Church whatever. So from the Protestant creed all 

85 



Second Lecture. 



faith in one, holy, Catholic Church is eliminated ; and 
the result is the total subversion of Scripture, his- 
tory, and Christianity. The argument of this lec- 
ture is therefore very simple. A movement which 
results in the destruction of the most necessary and 
holy institution of Jesus Christ cannot be from God. 
The Protestant Reformation is such a movement ; 
and is consequently proved to be the enemy of re- 
velation and Christian faith. 

The brief demonstration which we propose will 
embrace : 

I. A statement of the attack made upon the Ca- 
tholic Church by the Reformers and their followers. 

II. An exposition of the present Protestant doc- 
trine concerning the Church. 

III. An analysis of the opposition of this doctrine 
to the facts of Christianity. 

In every case we shall have recourse to the lan- 
guage of the Reformers themselves, and to the sym- 
bolical declarations of the various sects. 

I. 

The attack upon the Church by the Reformers and 
their followers. 

All the Reformers, with very few exceptions, were 
priests of the Catholic Church, bound by solemn 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 87 

obligations to her service ; and many of them were 
Religious with the additional responsibility of vows. 
They were all Catholics, taught in the ancient faith 
and trained in obedience to Christian morality. 
There was no pretence of any other Church, or of 
any other representative of Christ. It required, then, 
some boldness, not to say presumption, to assail the 
universally received Christianity, and become at once 
the open enemies of the old faith. The Catholic 
Church sustained that faith, and was therefore the 
principal object of attack. 

Let us glance at this attack, and see the spirit 
which animated them in their warfare with the one 
and only visible fold of the Lord. 

John Wickliffe is held in much veneration by Pro- 
testants as one of their earliest fathers. He was 
born at Wickliffe, in Yorkshire, in 1324, and made 
his studies at Oxford. He began quite early his as- 
sault upon the Church, even while he continued to be 
its minister. In 1350 he preached a sermon against 
the prerogatives of the Roman See, and styled the 
pope " Antichrist, the arrogant and worldly priest 
of Rome, and the accursed extortioner." He was a 
pantheist in theology, and asserted that creation was 
a necessity, and that God Himself was not free. He 
maintained that the judgment of the Church is not a 



ss 



Second Lecture. 



necessary condition to certitude in faith. ; and that 
every individual Christian is, by the grace of Christ, 
absolutely certain of the truth of what he believes ; 
and that the Papacy and the episcopacy are not of 
divine institution. He also denied the necessity or 
efficacy of the sacraments. In his judgment all the 
scientific and literary institutions established after 
the tenth century, and particularly the religious 
orders, which he said had been shaken from the tail 
of the great dragon, were diabolical in origin and 
pagan in character/' His book called the "Tria- 
logus " systematically develops his bitter opposition 
to the Church and her doctrines. His followers were 
designated by the name of Lollards. 

The next important forerunner of the Reformation 
is John Huss, born in Bohemia in 1369. He stu- 
died philosophy and theology at the University of 
Prague, where in 1398 he became professor. When 
he embraced the teachings of "WicklifTe he began to 
strive to rouse popular feeling against the hierarchy ; 
and his fiery denunciation of the pope was so violent 
as to excite sometimes the indignation of his au- 
dience. His tract concerning the Church, the most 
important of all his writings, utterly subverts the es- 



* Aizog, II. § 279. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 89 

sential characteristics of its being and government. 
It contains these propositions : "The members of the 
Church consist wholly of the predestined, who can 
no more cease to be of her fold than those fore- 
doomed to eternal misery can enter it. There is 
o head of the Church other than Christ ; and to say- 
that the Church militant has need of a visible head, 
or that Christ instituted such, is to assert what can- 
not be proved. The Papacy owes its origin solely 
to imperial favor and authority. The claim of the 
Church to the obedience of her members is a pure 
invention of priests, and contrary to Holy Scrip- 
ture." * His disciples, called Hussites, like the 
Lollards separated naturally from the communion 
of the Church, and became sectaries of so revolu- 
tionary a character that governments were obliged 
to suppress them by force. Other so-called Re- 
formers followed, all in some way distinguished 
by their attacks upon the Church. "I hold,' 1 said 
John Wesel (1479), "the pope, the Church, and the 
councils in the utmost contempt, and do not believe 
that Christ ever prescribed fasts, pilgrimages, or any 
other prayer than the Our Father." 

If we turn now to Martin Luther, the father of the 
Protestant Reformation, we shall find a still greater 



* Alzog, II. § 280. 



90 



Second Lecture. 



hatred of the Church, the priesthood, and the Ro- 
man Pontiff. We shall quote his words : 

"The Church of Christ has become a real prosti- 
tute. Before the Reformation she was so clouded 
with darkness that no one could answer these ques- 
tions : What is God? What is Christ? What are 
good works, faith, heaven, earth, hell, or the devil ? 
With its dogmas of abstinence from meats, its cowls, 
its Masses and other filthy traditions Rome has fet- 
tered the consciences of mankind." * 

"If Rome thinks and teaches what I refuse to 
believe, I declare openly that Antichrist sits in the 
temple of God, Babylon reigns in empurpled Rome, 
and the court of Rome is the synagogue of Satan. 
Yes, I say if the pope and cardinals do not stop the 
mouth of this Satan, I confess before heaven that I 
dissent from the Church of Rome, I deny the pope 
and cardinals, and hold the Roman Church to be the 
mystery of abominations, seated in the holy place, "f 

"Greater credence must be given to a layman 
armed with the Scriptures than to the pope, the 
council, or the Church herself." \ 

In his preface on "Christian Liberty" Luther 
strives to establish that the priestly office is infused 
into human nature as the soul into the body ; that it 

* Audin, " Life of Luther," ll. 282. 
f Ibid. 1.127. J Ibid. 167. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 91 

pertains to every man who believes. " All Christians 
are equally priests, having the same power in the word 
and in the sacraments." * To reform the Church he 
proposes to destroy all kinds of priestly hierarchy, 
and to put an end once for all to that Papacy which 
represents on earth the Antichrist of Daniel. 

"I maintain the author of this bull to be Anti- 
christ. I curse it as an insult and blasphemy against 
the Son of God. Amen. I acknowledge, I proclaim 
in my soul and conscience, as truths the articles 
which it condemns. I wish that every Christian who 
shall receive that infamous bull may suffer the tor- 
ments of hell. For my part, it is a pagan, it is Anti- 
christ in person." 

" Yesterday I burned in the public square the sa- 
tanical works of the pope. I wish rather it had been 
the pope — I mean the Papal See — that had been thus 
consumed. If you do not separate from Rome there 
is no salvation for your souls. Let every Christian 
seriously reflect that in communicating with the pa- 
pists he renounces eternal life. Abomination to Ba - 
bylon ! So long as I have breath I shall exclaim, 
Abomination," f 

" Neither the Church nor the angels can impose 
articles of faith upon the Christian." " The pope- 

* Luther, Op. II. 297. f Audin, I. 227, 235. 



02 



Second Lecture. 



dom is a mere jugglery." " The pope is a heretic, a 
schismatic, an idolater. Hail, Satan ! " 

Among the propositions of Luther which were 
condemned by the Sorbonne were the following : 
" The sacraments are of recent invention. All Chris- 
tians are equally empowered to preach the word of 
God. We are all priests, and the Mass is not 
a sacrifice. Xo one, pope or bishop, can estab- 
lish rules obligatory on a Christian. Yows must be 
abolished. Works done prior to the regeneration of 
man are sins. Contrition makes us hypocrites. Au- 
ricular confession cannot be proved by any divine 
law. The just sin in all their good works. God has 
commanded us to do things which are impossible." * 

Among his attacks upon the priesthood may be 
found such words as these : " Listen, bishops ; listen, 
hobgoblins and devils : the doctor is about to read 
you a bull which will not sound agreeable to your 
ears. This is the bull of Dr. Martin : Whosoever 
shall assist with his person or means to lay waste the 
episcopacy and order of bishops is the cherished 
child of God and a good Christian. Whoever de- 
fends a bishop or renders him obedience is the ser- 
vant of Satan." "May the name of the pope 
be damned ; may his kingdom be abolished ; may 



* Audin, I. 329, 370. 



The Pe o testa nt i? e foe ma tjon a nd the Ch ue ch. 9 3 

his will be restrained. If I thought that God did 
not hear my prayer I would address myself to the 
devil." "Cursed be the pope, who has done more 
harm to the kingdom of God and the Church than 
Mahomet ! May the monster then perish eternally. 
May he and his decretals be eternally execrated by 
the angels and saints." "As a general rule the 
bishops are the pest and poison of the Church and 
of the government ; they create disturbances every- 
where." "Do yon wish me to define the popish 
kingdom ? The pope and his court are idolaters and 
servants of the devil ; his doctrines are those of 
Satan ; the Catholic Church is the Church of Satan. 
Wretches ! you will all go to hell ; papists, you are 
nothing but asses. Whoever does not hate the pope 
from the bottom of his heart will not gain the king- 
dom of heaven. It is a sin not to hate the pope. 
They are blockheads who say to you, ' Beware of 
hating the pope.' I, doctor of doctors, wish to in- 
struct and try the papists, and cry to them: 'You 
are asses. I glory in the hatred of such ignorant 
fools as you. You say that you are doctors ! So 
am I. I can interpret the Psalms and the prophets ; 
you cannot. I can read them ; you cannot. I am a 
thousand times better than you. Papist and ass 
are synonymous terms.' " "Gregory the Great was 
a very holy man, but he did what the other popes 



94 



Second Lecture. 



have done. He taught detestable doctrines. The 
devil possessed him, and for all his writings I would 
not give a penny." "I consider St. Jerome a here- 
tic, who never speaks but of fasting, virginity, and 
celibacy. I would not have him for my chaplain." 

" St. Augustine often erred ; he cannot be trusted. 
Many of his writings are worthless. It was a mis- 
take to place him among the saints, for he had not 
the true faith." 

" The Fathers are blockheads, who have only writ- 
ten fooleries upon celibacy." 

" God has made many mistakes. I would have 
given Him good advice had I assisted at the crea- 
tion." * 

These principles of Martin Luther led his disci- 
ples at once to separate from the visible unity of 
the Church. Denying the teaching and authority of 
the only existing Christian communion, they were 
obliged to form a new Church of their own creation, 
or fall into hopeless infidelity. When Luther had 
succeeded in abolishing episcopal jurisdiction in the 
countries where the Reformation had taken root, it 
was necessary to substitute some form of ecclesiasti- 
cal government in its place. 

For this purpose Philip, the Landgrave of Hesse, 

* Audin. III. pp. 32, 272-287. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 95 

convoked a synod at Homburg in October, 1526. 
The regulations of this synod, with some modifica- 
tions, were made the basis of the organization of the 
Lutheran churches. "The elector appointed a com- 
mission, consisting of laymen and ecclesiastics, by 
whom preachers were set over the various parishes, 
and the ancient ecclesiastical foundations abolished. 
In 1527 and 1528 a visitation of the various churches 
was made by a commission of four, composed of 
theologians and jurists. Officers called superintend- 
ents exercised a general supervision over all affairs, 
but the reigning prince was ex-officio the supreme 
authority in whatever related to Church govern- 
ment." * 

Thus, little by little, churches were made, and the 
whole system of ecclesiastical polity was suited to 
the new opinions. For the commission of the new 
ministers no divine ordination was necessary. This 
was one of the rejected errors of the Catholic Church. 
The proposition "that we belong all alike to the 
priesthood, and that the Scriptures make no distinc- 
tion between laymen and priests," f leads at once to 
the destruction of the priesthood, since every believ- 
er is thus invested with the sacerdotal dignity, and 
can preach the word and administer the sacraments. 



* Alzog, III. § 310. f Luther, " De Libertate Christiana," I. 370. 



06 



S eco ad Lecture. 



At the diet of Spire, April, 1529, the Protestants 
entered their solemn declaration that "they were 
the exclusive heirs of the true religion, and the only 
members of the one saving Church of Christ. As 
such they maintained that the Mass, being plainly, 
from the words of Holy Scripture, an idolatrous act 
of worship, could not be tolerated." * 

The author of the first religious controversy in 
Switzerland was Ulrich Zwingli, who, abont the 
same time as Luther, began an attack upon the 
Church, assailing her teaching and her priesthood. 
His earliest efforts were directed to an attempt to 
overturn the Papacy and the whole ecclesiastical 
hierarchy. "According to his definition, the Church, 
wliose members are known to God alone, consists of 
that great company of Christians who recognize only 
Christ as their head, He having no visible represen- 
tative on earth. Hence the spiritual power of the 
Bishop of Home, and of the bishops dispersed over 
the world, is neither more nor less than usurpation, 
such power having been primarily lodged in the civil 
authorities, from whom it was extorted by the eccle- 
siastical hierarchy. The sacraments, he said, are but 
empty signs, having no efficacy, conferring no grace, 



* Walch, XVI. 328. 



The Pr o testa nt R e form a tion and the Ch ur ch. 9 7 

and not being even tokens of God's favor. Baptism 
does not cleanse the soul of sin nor make the recipi- 
ent a son of God ; but it is a sign of initiation for 
those who do not yet enjoy that favor, and a pledge 
of continuance for those who do. The Holy Eucha- 
rist is not itself a sacrifice, but merely a commemora- 
tion of the expiatory sacrifice of Christ, and hence 
the words of institution spoken by Christ are to be 
taken, not in their literal and obvious sense, but in 
a sense wholly figurative." * 

The result of these doctrines was open separation 
from the Church and the destruction of the Catholic 
worship. " Accompanied by many of the magis- 
trates and a number of masons* and carpenters, 
Zwingli went about Zurich, despoiling the churches, 
demolishing images and statues, overturning altars, 
and destroying even the organs, in his insane ha- 
tred of whatever called up the memory of the an- 
cient faith. They would have neither music, lights, 
incense, nor external ceremony. For the magnificent 
and imposing grandeur of the Roman ritual they 
substituted a cold, cheerless worship as repulsive as 
it was grotesque. A plain table took the place of 
the altar of sacrifice, and goblets of wine and a bas- 
ket of bread were the human substitutes for the 



*Alzog, III. 100, 



Second Lecture. 



plate and the chalice containing the Body and Blood 
of Christ. The texts of Scripture were read in Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew, after which the various readings 
were compared, and the correct sense, according to 
(heir understanding of it, evolved." * The Grand 
Council of Zurich assumed the government of these 
newly-formed congregations and the full exercise of 
a quasi- episcopal jurisdiction. 

The Anabaptists were the immediate fruit of the 
principles of Luther and Zwingli. Their licentious 
fanaticism was not only directed against the Church 
and its ministry, but was subversive of all social 
order. 

Geneva was the scene of the most efficient and im- 
portant labors of John Calvin. Before his arrival 
the churches had been desecrated, altars had been 
pulled down and demolished, and paintings and sta- 
tues destroyed. In 1541 he attempted to reduce to 
some order the conflicting sectaries which had sprung 
from the reform. He elaborated a system of Church 
government, and placed himself at its head with 
powers so extensive and extravagant, that even the 
prerogatives of the Papacy are limited and temperate 
in comparison. His doctrinal system practically de- 
nied to man any free will, and taught an eternal and 



* Alzog, III. 93. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 99 

immutable decree of predestination, which necessi- 
tated the denial of the visible Church and the whole 
sphere of its operations. He was, therefore, quite 
equal to Luther in his attacks upon the Catholic 
Church, which he portrayed as sunk in an abyss of 
infamy. Still, his teachings concerning the Church 
which he founded were slightly more conservative 
than those of his co-Reformer. He held to the insti- 
tution of a ministry which he divided into three 
grades, of pastors, elders, and deacons, for which 
there was a ceremony of ordination, and a vocation 
from God through the voice of the people. The Cal- 
vinistic communities, quite independent one of an- 
other, were to be governed by synods as a kind of 
central authority. He held to no priesthood, as the 
sacraments were in his system only signs of grace, 
and the Holy Eucharist was neither a sacrifice nor 
sacrament in any proper sense, since the bread and 
wine were unchanged , and empty though significant 
memorials. He was the inveterate foe of all forms, 
was ardently bent upon abolishing every sort of out- 
ward ceremony, and manifested the most determined 
opposition to all the external pomp of divine wor- 
ship. 

These principles of the leading Reformers were 
adopted, with modifications and increasing contra- 
dictions, all over Europe, wherever their influence 



100 



Second Lecture. 



extended. The unity and visibility of the Church 
were denied, and new congregations arose, either 
without any government, or in slavish subjec- 
tion to the civil power. The supremacy of secular 
princes in spiritual affairs became the prevailing 
doctrine of the Reformation. "It was known," says 
Dr. Dollinger, "that the authority of princes over 
religion was declared by Protestant theologians and 
jurists to be a real and constituent part of the sov- 
ereign power."* "By the peace of Westphalia 
princes were legally invested with the right of re- 
forming religion. Thus, as in the old pagan times, 
there were formed state religions, national religions, 
and religions by law established. This national sys- 
tem received its fullest and most perfect expression 
in the i Established Church of England ' ; but the 
name would have been more appropriate had the 
phrase ' religious community ' been adopted in- 
stead of the word 4 Church.' "f 

If we turn our eyes to this national establishment 
in England we shall see the application of reformed 
principles by the tyranny of the prince. Henry 
VIII., by the permission of Divine Providence, is 
the founder and father of the English national 
Church. By brute force he broke the chains which 

* " The Church and the Churches," p. 60. f Alzog, III. 305. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 101 

bound England to the ancient Church, and accom- 
plished his reformation for his own vile and crimi- 
nal passions. Once a defender of the pope against 
the attacks of Luther, he became the great enemy 
of the Ho]y See, whose jurisdiction over the uni- 
versal Christianity he rejected. The motives for 
his action do not give any splendor to the nativ- 
ity of the religious progeny sprung from his loins. 
His denial of the authority of the Yicar of Christ 
is well known. The next step was to silence the 
voice of the Church within his realm and make it 
subservient to his will. To this end he forced the 
council, or convocation, to subscribe an act of sla- 
vish submission to his royal command. We give 
here the exact language of this submission, because 
it exhibits the animus of the Reformation, and 
shows what the Church of England was and is in 
its relations to Christendom : 

"We, your most humble subjects, daily orators 
and beadsmen of your clergy of England, having 
our special trust and confidence in your most excel- 
lent wisdom, your princely goodness, and fervent 
zeal in the promotion of God's honor and Christian 
religion, and also in your learning, far exceeding, in 
our judgment, the learning of all other kings and 
princes tha t we have read of ; and doubting nothing 
but that the same shall continue and increase in 



102 



jSecoxd Lecture. 



your majesty, first do offer and promise, on our 
priestly word, here unto your highness, submitting 
ourselves most humbly unto the same, that we will 
never from henceforth enact, put in use, promnlge, 
or execute any new canons or constitutions provin- 
cial, or any other new ordinance ; only your high- 
ness, by your royal assent, shall license us to assem- 
ble our convocation and to make such constitutions 
with your royal authority." * The same submis- 
sion also offers to abrogate and annul any ordinance 
already made which did not suit the views of his 
majesty. "By this act," says Burnet, the Protestant 
historian, "all the opposition that the convocations 
would probably have given to every step that was 
afterwards made in the Reformation, was so entirely 
restrained, that the quiet progress of the work was 
owing to the restraints under which the clergy put 
themselves by their submission." f The sequence 
of this slavish act was the enforced renunciation of 
the jurisdiction of the Supreme Pontiff. Says Dixon, 
in the history already quoted: "The bishops, who 
had sworn obedience to the pope, had in convocation 
gone before the other estates of the realm in moving 
for the abolition of the papal impositions. They 
had solemnly declared that the king was supreme 

* Dixon, " History of the Church of England," I. 110. 
f Burnet, III. 117-120. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 103 

head of the Church, and that the Bishop of Rome 
had no jurisdiction in England. But the logical 
mind of the king now returned to the oath of can- 
onical obedience, which he had formerly discovered 
to be contrary to his high prerogative. It was re- 
solved to exact from the bishops the formal denial 
of that which they had sworn. A renunciation of 
the pope, not, indeed, in the form of an oath, but of 
an obligation, profession, or engagement, was taken 
of the bishops in the month of February. They 
promised never to take an oath of fealty or obedi- 
ence to any foreign power; to maintain the king's 
cause and quarrel, to observe all the laws which 
had been enacted for the suppression of the Papacy ; 
not to appeal to the Bishop of Rome, nor procure 
from him any bulls or rescripts whatsoever. They 
declared the Papacy, or Roman patriarchate, not to 
have been ordained by God in Holy Scripture, but 
by human tradition ; and they promised never to 
call the Bishop of Rome by the name of pope, or 
most high bishop, or universal bishop, or most holy 
lord, but to call him only Bishop of Rome, or bro- 
ther. This engagement is, I think, the first docu- 
ment which may be construed to deny the pre-emi- 
nence of the See of Rome in Christendom, not less 
than the jurisdiction and authority of Rome in Eng- 
land. And it was the first document which was de- 



104 



Second Lecture. 



rived evidently from Lutheranism. The pontifical 
titles therein denied were those which had been de- 
nied by Luther." * 

In accordance with this renunciation the king as- 
sumed full jurisdiction of the Church, and, first sus- 
pending the bishops from the exercise of their facul- 
ties, he then grants them powers from the fountain 
of his own supremacy. " Inasmuch as all authority 
to declare the law, and all manner of jurisdiction, 
whether ecclesiastical or civil, is derived from the 
royal authority, as it were from the supreme head, 
we authorize you by these letters, remaining in force 
during our good pleasure, to confer holy orders up- 
on those who are of your diocese." f The king's 
letter to Bonner contains these words: "Since all 
jurisdiction, both ecclesiastical and civil, flowed 
from the king as supreme head, and he was the 
foundation of all power, it became those who exer- 
cised it only at the king's courtesy gratefully to 
acknowledge that they had it only of his bounty."' \ 

Thus the Church of England was withdrawn from 
the communion of the Apostolic See. Cranmer, his 
pliant archbishop, applied to Rome and obtained his 
bulls ; but no bishop afterwards during the reign of 
Henry applied for or obtained them, and all those 

* 1; History of the Church of England," I. 254. 
f Sanders, " Anglican Schism," p. 249. % Burnet, I. 429. 



The Pr o testa nt R eforma tion a nd the Chur ch. 105 

who from that time were consecrated, were in heresy 
and schism, utterly without jurisdiction, until the 
days of Queen Mary, who restored the ancient faith 
with its observances. We are to view this subject 
again at more length, but before we leave this part 
of our argument it will be well to note the doctrines 
of the leaders in the English reform. 

This is not the place to speak of Cuanmer's private 
character, which is among the most infamous in all 
history. We regard him here simply as the foun- 
der, with Henry VIIL, of the national establishment. 
It would seem that his whole life was a lie, and that 
all his actions sprang from self-love or ambition ut- 
terly destitute of principle. At his consecration he 
solemnly swore obedience and loyalty to the Holy 
See before the holy altar. Before, however, he took 
this oath he called to him certain of his friends and 
said to them : " Sirs, bear me witness that albeit I 
shall swear this day to be obedient to the See of 
Rome, yet I shall swear but with my outward lips, 
and not with my heart and mind ; neither do I in- 
tend to keep my promise with the pope, who is ab- 
sent, but to blind the eyes of the people present." * 
His opinions in regard to the priesthood and episco- 
pacy are traditional with the communion he helped 



* Harpsiield, III. 126, 



106 



Second Lecture. 



to found. " There is no more promise of Grod," said 
lie, " that grace is given in the committing of the ec- 
clesiastical office than in the committing of the civil 
office. All ministers, ecclesiastical and civil, are ap- 
pointed by the king. The ceremonies that are used 
in all are not of necessity, but for a good order and 
seemly fashion. Bishops and priests were but one 
office at the beginning of Christ's religion. Princes 
and governors may make bishops, and so may the 
people by their election. No consecration of bishops 
or priests is needed by the Scriptures ; the election or 
appointment of them is sufficient. Princes and lay- 
men may teach and preach, and make priests and 
bishops, in the case supposed."* William Barlow, 
the alleged consecrator of Matthew Parker, and so 
the father of the present succession of English bish- 
ops, was even more radical than Cranmer. He af- 
firmed "that laymen had sometimes made priests, 
and might make them in case of necessity, that no 
consecration was requisite, and that appointing alone 
was sufficient." f 

These views of the priesthood indicate very plainly 
the prevailing notions of the English Reformers con- 
cerning the Church. The essential organization of 
the Church is broken down with the hierarchy, and 



* Dixon, II. 307. 



f Ibid. II. 309. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 107 

there remains only a human association bound to- 
gether by civil power or by mutual sympathy. All 
the leaders of Protestantism, without any exception, 
united in the rejection of the existing Church ; while 
many condemned the Sovereign Pontiff as Anti- 
christ, and, therefore, the chief enemy of God. 
There could not be a wider separation than that 
which existed between the Catholic and Apostolic 
Church and the new religions. And the churches 
which came into being from this movement were 
simply communities of men, torn by violent dis- 
putes and making no pretension to a divine cha- 
racter. Of the earth, earthly, they sprang from the 
passions and foolish pride of men who, in the lan- 
guage of the apostle, "were audacious and self- 
willed, despising government, and fearing not to 
bring in sects, blaspheming." 

II. 

The present Protestant doctrine concerning the 
Church. 

We cannot claim for Protestants any consistency 
or continuity of doctrine. The creed their fathers 
held is not necessarily that of the children. Neither 
is the symbol of any sect to-day a sure evidence of 



108 



Second Lecture. 



the opinions of its members. With them creeds are 
written on paper, and subject to endless interpreta- 
tions, according to the liberty of individuals. Pro- 
fessions of faith are made by men without any divine 
assistance, as there is no infallibility claimed or ac- 
cepted. What man makes, man may alter or un- 
make. There is no authority in any Protestant 
church bat that of the individuals composing it, 
who are, therefore, its master. One thing alone is 
certain : that every one may believe what his own 
judgment dictates to him as matter of faith. This is 
the essential principle of Protestantism, with which 
it stands or falls. 

Still, while we cannot rprofess to state what Pro- 
testants believe, we may venture to declare what 
they reject or do not believe. It is, then, part of our 
argument to show that they do not believe in any 
visible Church, properly so called. We have already, 
from Scripture and hi story, defined the nature of the 
Christian Church. We propose now to demonstrate 
that they have rejected this article of faith. While 
they refuse obedience to the Church which Jesus 
Christ instituted nineteen centuries ago, they put 
nothing in its place, except mere human organi- 
zations without any of the notes of the Church ; or 
substitute for it an invisible body whose existence 
is impalpable and inefficacious. Thus the Chris- 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 109 

tian belief in " one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic 
Church " has ceased among them. 

Let us listen to the language of their authorized 
professions of faith and the symbols which are still 
accepted among them. 

The Augsburg Confession, a.d. 1530, was the mo- 
ther-symbol of the Reformation, adopted by the 
leading Lutherans, and held in veneration by many 
to this day. In Article VII. it teaches " that one 
holy Church is to continue for ever. But the Church 
is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is 
rightly taught and the sacraments rightly adminis- 
tered. And unto the true unity of the Church it 
is sufficient to agree concerning the doctrine of the 
Gospel and the administration of the sacraments." 
This definition is not perfectly plain. It is evident, 
however, that no particular visible body is referred 
to, though it be not directly stated that the true 
Church to which one must belong for salvation is 
invisible. For it is the assembly of saints or holy 
people whom God only can know. Moreover, in this 
Church the Gospel must be rightly taught ; and they 
who agree in the right reception of the Gospel are 
its members, wherever they may be. Where the 
judge is to be found who will decide when the 
Gospel is rightly taught does not appear. It is not 



110 



Secoxd Lecture. 



the Church itself, since no one can know which is 
the Church until this question be settled; and no 
such authority is anywhere claimed. In the introduc- 
tion to Part Second the trainers of this Confession 
tell us that "they dissent in no article of faith from 
the Holy Scriptures or the Church Catholic' ' ; but 
then they proceed to enumerate the errors into which 
that Church has fallen, which are a very large 
portion of the Catholic creed. For this renunciation 
of the old faith they justify themselves by their 
interpretation of the Bible, and declare that "we 
must not subscribe to Catholic bishops, if they 
chance to err, or determine anything contrary to the 
canonical Divine Scriptures/' "The bishops," say 
they, "have no power to determine anything con- 
trary to the Gospel." * To express, then, in plain 
words this definition, we may say that the Church is 
the congregation of those who anywhere and any 
way profess the right faith. Each individual, read- 
ing the Scriptures for himself, must determine what 
the right faith is, and thus find out the Church. 
There is no authority above that of the individual. 
But as then the members of the Church must be 
saints, a new and perhaps insurmountable difficul- 
ty will arise. Who are saints and where are they % 



*Part II., Article VII. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. Ill 

Do those who are not saints belong to the Church % 
We humbly submit that with these conditions the 
Church cannot be found. And even if it could be 
found it could have no note of the Christian Church, 
and could be of no use to mankind. In our judg- 
ment, the individual on whom all this labor devolves 
is better without it than with it. Article XIV., 
Part I., tells us that "no man should publicly in 
the Church teach, or administer the sacraments, 
except he be rightly called." There appears, how- 
ever, no intimation as to the nature of this call, or 
any direction as to any ceremony of ordination or- 
dained by Christ. Who, then, are the priesthood, 
or whence they receive their commission, we are not 
informed. It is probable that they are to be con- 
sidered lawful ministers who are so appointed by 
the people or by the civil power. 

In the small Catechism of Martin Luther, published 
in 1529, we find the word Catholic left out of the 
Creed, and his followers are asked to believe in one, 
holy, Christian Church, which is afterwards explain- 
ed to be the body of true believers throughout the 
earth. Who the true believers are is of course left 
to the judgment of each individual, since there is 
no other authority in doctrine. The Catechism of 
Luther is thus in accord with the Augsburg Con- 



112 



Second Lecture. 



fession, to which it adds nothing of clearness or 
illumination. 

The Formula of Concord, made in 1576 to pro- 
duce peace among the disputing sects of the Refor- 
mation, has no definition of the Church, nor any 
explanation of its nature. The authors of this sym- 
bol probably accepted the indelinite opinion of the 
creed of Augsburg. It was difficult to express that 
which they did not clearly conceive. Still, from the 
whole tenor of this formula Ave may conclude that 
there was no belief in any visible Church, especially 
as the company of the justified are those, who to 
them represent Christ and are saved by the impu- 
tation of His righteousness. "We believe," says 
Section III. of Article III., " teach, and confess that 
faith alone is the means and instrument whereby we 
lay hold on Christ the Saviour, and so in Christ lay 
hold on that righteousness which is able to stand 
before the judgment of God ; for that faith, for 
Christ's sake, is imputed to us for righteousness." 

The Ten Conclusions of Berne were prepared 
a.d. 1528, by Swiss reformed ministers, and were 
accepted by all the leading conferences in Switzer- 
land. The first article declares that "the holy 
Christian Church, whose only head is Christ, is- born 
of the Word of God, abides in the same, and listens 



The Pk o testa nt R efo rma tion a nd the Ch ur ch. 113 

not to the voice of a stranger." This is the reitera- 
tion of the proposition of Ulrieh Zwingli, that "all 
who live in Christ are His members and the children 
of God. This is the true Catholic Church, the com- 
munion of saints." *- Taken with the consequent 
denial of the sacrifice of the Mass and the priesthood, 
these propositions are a rejection of the visibility of 
the Church, and an assertion that the Church is only 
the company of those who are united spiritually to 
Christ. For such there is no need of an outward 
sign or sacrament of unity, since all the graces of God 
are conveyed through faith. To say that there could 
be a visible Church, consisting of all nominal Chris- 
tians, whatever might be their belief or morals, is to 
utter a contradiction. The word Church signifies a 
nnity, and cannot be applied to disunited congrega- 
tions. The Swiss Reformers did not believe in any 
Church, properly so called. 

The First Helvetic Confession was made in 1536, 
and represented the faith of all the reformed cantons 
of Switzerland. Article X V. declares ' ' the Church 
to be the holy company of all the saints, and the 
immaculate bride of Christ, which Christ washes and 
purifies with His own blood, and finally presents to 



* Schaff, " Hist, of Creeds," I. 364. 



1U 



Second Lecture. 



His Father without spot." This Church can only be 
known to the eyes of God, and is therefore invisible 
to men. A certain kind of visible Church is admit- 
ted, with external rites and public discipline, but no 
further explanation of this Church is given, and no 
signs are indicated by which it may be known. 
Christ is declared to be the only head, and the min- 
istry are chosen either by a divine call or by the 
election of the community.* 

The Second Helvetic Confession, made in 1566. is 
an amplification and explanation of the Swiss doc- 
trine. It asserts in chapter xvii. " that there always 
was, now is, and shall be to the end of time a 
Church or an assembly of believers, and a commu- 
nion of saints, called and gathered from the world, 
who know and worship the true God in Christ our 
Saviour." This Church embraces the faithful in all 
ages ; it has no promise of infallibility or visible uni- 
ty, and the particular congregations of which it is 
composed are united by no external bond, but by 
the belief in the true faith. There is no one 
teacher of the true faith, which is, therefore, left 
to the uncertainty of human judgments, "The 
Church has no other head than Christ, who is the 



* Art. Xyl , xvTft. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 115 

universal pastor of His nock and needs no vicar 
upon earth." "God overrules divisions for His 
glory and the illustration of truth." "We do not 
so restrict the Church as to exclude those who, 
from unavoidable necessity, do not partake of the 
sacraments, or who are weak in faith or still have 
defects and errors." " Hence the Church may be 
called invisible ; not that the men composing it are 
invisible, but because they are known only to God, 
while we are often mistaken in our judgment." 
"The true unity of the Church is not to be sought 
in ceremonies and rites, but in the truth and in the 
Catholic faith as laid down in the Scriptures and 
summed up in the Apostles' Creed." A minister 
should be lawfully called and chosen by the Church, 
and should be ordained by the elders." "All minis- 
ters are equal in power and commission, and the 
minister of the New Testament is not a priest, since 
there is no sacrifice but that which all believers offer, 
namely, thanksgiving and praise to God." The 
Roman Catholic Church is condemned with nearly 
all its doctrines.* 

The French Confession of Faith, prepared by Cal- 
vin a.d. 1559, was revised and approved by a 



* Schaff, " Hist, of Creeds," I. 408-412. 



116 



Secoxd Lecture. 



synod at Paris. It bears the title, "Confession of 
Faith and Ecclesiastical Discipline of the Reformed 
Churches of France." After maintaining that "all 
should keep the union of the Church ' ' it proceeds 
(Article XXVII.) to define what the true Church is. 
" We say, then, that, according to the word of God, 
it is the company of the faithful who agree to follow 
His word, and the pure religion which it teaches ; 
who grow in grace all their lives, believing, and be- 
coming more confirmed in the fear of God." "There 
can be no Church where the word of God is not re- 
ceived." " Therefore are the papal assemblies con- 
demned, because their sacraments are corrupted, fal- 
sified, or destroyed, and all superstitions and idola- 
tries are in them. We hold, then, that all who take 
part in these acts or commune in that Church sepa- 
rate and cut themselves off from the body of Christ." 
" All pastors, wherever they may be, have the same 
authority and equal power under one head, one only 
sovereign and universal bishop, Jesus Christ ; and 
consequently no Church shall claim any authority or 
dominion over any other." "We believe that no 
person should undertake to govern the Church upon 
his own authority, but that this should be derived 
from election as far as it is possible and as God will 
permit. And we make this exception especially, be- 
cause sometimes, and even in our own days, when 



The Pro testa nt R e form a tion a nd the Ch ur ch. 117 

the state of the Church has been interrupted, it has 
been necessary for God to raise men in an extraordi- 
nary manner to restore the Church, which was in 
ruin and desolation." * This same Confession also, 
in Article XII., teaches the absolute predestination 
of the just to eternal life "without any consideration 
of their works." 

Thus, while there is a definition here of a Church, 
there is the explicit denial of its unity and therefore 
of its visibility; and the "company of those who 
agree to follow the word of Christ and the pure reli- 
gion which He teaches " can never be discerned, since 
there is no divine authority to declare what the true 
faith is, or to interpret the Holy Scriptures. Each 
individual is supreme in this office, and hence there 
can be no agreement. The whole Church of Christ 
for centuries having erred and become apostate, 
there is left nothing on earth to guide mankind. 
Congregations of men with merely human authori- 
ty cannot be called in any sense the one visible 
Church of Christ. 

The Belgic Confession, which is the symbol of 
the reformed churches of Flanders and the Nether- 
lands, was adopted by the synod of Emden in 1571, 



* Schaff, III. 374, 377. 



118 



Second Lecture. 



and by the national synod of Dort in 1619, In 
Article XXVIII. the Church is defined to be "the 
assemblage of those who are saved." Every one is, 
therefore, bound to unite himself with it, and sub- 
mit to "this congregation wheresoever God hath 
established it." There seems to be a confusion here 
between the invisible and the visible Church, since 
" hypocrites are mixed in the Church with the good, 
and externally are its members," and yet are not of 
the assembly of the saved. Still, " the body and 
communion of the true Church must be distin- 
guished from all sects who call themselves the 
Church.^ 

" The marks by which the true Church is known 
are these : It preaches the pure doctrine of the Gos- 
pel ; it maintains the pure administration of the 
sacraments as instituted by Christ ; it exercises dis- 
cipline in the punishment of sin ; it manages all 
things according to the pure word of God, and 
acknowledges Jesus Christ as the head of the 
Church." * Who is to decide what the true word 
of God is, and what is the pure religion, does not ap- 
pear, unless it be each individual with his private in- 
terpretation of the Scriptures. Under these circum- 
stances each one must find the Church for himself ; 



* Schaff, III. 419, 420. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 119 

and if lie fail to find it there is no one to help him. 
There are ministers, but they are elected by the peo- 
ple and have all the same power and authority. 
They cannot render the inquirer any sure assist- 
ance. The ancient Church, which has all the notes 
of Christ's authority, is called a "false Church, 
given up to covetousness, error, and idolatry." 

The Scotch Confession, made a.d. 1560, having 
public authority in the reformed congregations of 
Scotland, distinctly teaches that the Church of God 
is invisible. It is the company of the just who are 
to be saved, the elect by the divine decree. "This 
Church (Article XVI.) is invisible, known only to 
God, who alone knows whom He has chosen. It 
comprehends the elect who have departed this life 
and belong to the Church triumphant, those who 
are now living, fighting against sin and Satan, and 
those who are yet to be." 

Having thus denied the visibility of the Church, 
it proceeds to call the one visible communion of 
Christ "a horrible harlot, the Church malignant," 
and then inconsistently goes % on to tell the marks 
by which the true Church may be known, not the 
universal but the particular. "To these particular 
churches nothing is certain from the promises of 
Christ ; but if they continue in the true religion, and 



120 



Second Lecture. 



rightly administer ecclesiastical discipline, God is 
said to be with them. All churches have erred, and 
even general councils are unreliable, having fallen 
from the faith in matters of great weight and im- 
portance." * 

The Second Scotch Confession was subscribed 
in 1580 at Holyrood House by the king, council, 
and court. It is principally a denunciation of the 
Church of Rome, which it calls Antichrist and ac- 
cuses of deadly error in the corruption of the Chris- 
tian doctrine. It sustains this denunciation by the 
private interpretation of the Scriptures, without any 
pretence of ecclesiastical authority. 

The Articles of Faith of the Protestant Church of 
England were prepared in 1562, and afterwards pub- 
lished in 1571. They are the only distinctive symbol 
of this Church, and they have been adopted, with 
some slight changes, by the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States in its convention of 
1801. 

Article XIX. tells us that "the visible Church is 
a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure 
word of God is preached and the sacraments are 



*Schaff III., 460-465. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 121 

duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, in 
all those things that of necessity are requisite to the 
same." This is, as any honest man may see, no de- 
finition at all, since there is no one to tell us which is 
the pure word of God, nor what is requisite to the 
proper administration of the sacraments. It is a 
confusion of ideas by words which have no mean- 
ing, and is really a denial of any one visible Church. 
In the same article we are told that the churches 
of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, and also 
of Rome, probably all the churches of the world, 
"have erred in matters of faith." 

If there be any Church which has not fallen from 
the true religion, the Articles do not inform us which 
it is. This visible Church, if any one be so happy 
as to find it, is not allowed to decree things repug- 
nant to the Scriptures. If it should do so, then, 
according to the definition, it would cease to be a 
Church, which is very likely to happen. This would 
leave the inquirer in some embarrassment, as then 
he would have to go on another search. General 
councils are in as bad a condition, since " they may 
not be gathered together without the commandment 
and will of princes," and even then are likely to err 
in tilings pertaining to God. So there is no author- 
ity whatever as it regards faith. Nothing definite is 
declared in these Articles concerning the ministry, 



122 



Second Lecture. 



and no assertion of any apostolic succession is 
made. Holy Order is denied as a sacrament, and 
" has grown from the corrupt following of the apos- 
tles.^ Five of the seven sacraments are rejected, 
and the remaining two are stripped of their sacra- 
mental character. The sacrificial nature of the Eu- 
charist is denied, and therefore the priesthood, 
while u the sacrifices of Masses are pronounced blas- 
pliemous fables and dangerous deceits." 

The Irish Articles of Religion were adopted by 
the archbishops, bishops, and Convocation of the 
Irish Episcopal Church in 1615. They distinctly de- 
clare the Catholic Church to be invisible. "This 
Church consisteth of all those, and those alone, who 
are elected by God unto salvation, and regenerated 
by the power of His Spirit,- the number of whom 
is known only unto G-od Himself ; therefore it is 
called the Catholic, or Universal, and the Invisi- 
ble Church." Particular and visible churches are 
many in number, more or less pure, but they have 
no authority from Grod to teach or govern the con- 
sciences of men. The following language is used 
concerning the pope: "The Bishop of Rome is so 
far from being the head of the universal Church of 
Christ that his works and doctrine do plainly dis- 
cover him to be that man of sin foretold in the Holy 



The Protestaxt Reformation and the Church. 123 

Scriptures, whom the Lord shall consume with the 
spirit of His mouth, and abolish with the brightness 
of His coming." * The sacrifice of the Mass is de- 
clared to be " most ungodly and most injurious to 
that all-sufficient sacrifice of our Saviour Christ of- 
fered once for ever upon the cross." 

The canons of the Synod of Dort, 1618-1619, have 
very little to say concerning the Church. They 
teach the doctrine of unconditional election to eternal 
iife ; and it is evident that the Church consists only 
of the elect, who are known to G-od. There is, then, 
properly no visible Church, since the particular 
congregations do not of necessity embrace the elect, 
and are only human organizations for edification of 
their members, from whom they derive all their 
authority to act in things ecclesiastical. 

The Westminster Confession of 1647 is the symbol 
of doctrine of many sects even to this day. It 
teaches first (Art. XXV.) that " the Catholic or 
Universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the 
whole number of the elect." Then there is a visible 
Church, "which consists of all those who through- 
out the world profess the true religion, and of their 
children." "This Catholic Church hath been some- 



* Article LXXX. 



124 



Second Lecture. 



times more, sometimes less visible. And particular 
churches, which are members thereof, are more or 
less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is 
taught and embraced more or less purely in them." 
"The purest churches under heaven are subject 
both to mixture and to error, and some have degen- 
erated so much as to become no churches of Christ, 
but synagogues of Satan." "There is no other 
head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ ; nor 
can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head there- 
of, but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son 
of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church 
against Christ and all that is called God." The 
sacramental character of Baptism and the Holy 
Eucharist is rejected, and " the popish sacrifice of 
the Mass is most abominably injurious to Christ's 
one only sacrifice, the one propitiation for the sins 
of the world. "* Any one who will take pains to 
study this Confession will see at once that while the 
ancient Church is condemned as Antichrist, there is 
no visible body with any of the notes or authority of 
the Church, and that the particular congregations to 
which the eiect are attached, are of no necessity to 
their members, who of their own gifts make their 
Church to be whatever it is before God. 



* Sehaff, III G57-665. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church, 125 

The Savoy declaration of the faith and order of the 
Congregational churches in England was first pub- 
lished in 1658. It rehearses the doctrine of the 
Westminster Confession concerning the Church in 
almost the same words. It, however, has some ex- 
plicit statements concerning the organization of par- 
ticular societies or churches, by which it seems that 
any number of men who agree, can form a Church 
and carry out the discipline and worship of Christ. 
If they happen to hold and teach the true faith, they 
are invested with all the power and authority of the 
Lord. "The Lord Christ has given to His elect 
liberty and power to choose officers, persons fitted to 
be over them and to minister to them." u Besides 
these particular churches, there is not instituted by 
Christ any Church more extensive or catholic, en- 
trusted with power for the administration of His 
ordinances or the execution of any authority in His 
name." The ministers are chosen by the people, 
whose voice is the sign of the divine call to their 
office ; and ordination even " without the election of 
the church doth not constitute any person a church- 
officer or communicate office-power unto him." * 

The same principles have been adopted in more 
modern Confessions of the Congregationalists. Their 



* Schaff, III. 724-726. 



126 



Second Lecture. 



very name implies that there is no one visible 
Church, but that all particular societies are distinct 
and independent. "Each society of believers hav- 
ing in its formation the intention to observe religious 
ordinances, to promote mutual edification and holi- 
ness, and to propagate and perpetuate the Gospel in 
the world, is properly a Christian Church." They 
teach that every Church so formed has full power 
" to elect its own officers, to manage its own affairs, 
and to stand independent of, and irresponsible to, all 
authority, save that only of the supreme and divine 
head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ." * 
These principles are reiterated by the National 
Council of Congregational Churches held at Boston, 
Mass., in June, 1865. 

The Baptist Confession published in London in 
1688 teaches the same doctrine in regard to the 
Church as do the divines of Westminster, whose 
language in many parts has been employed. So- 
cieties are organized by different individuals, who 
elect their own ministers and frame their own rules. 
"To each of these churches thus gathered, accord- 
ing to His mind declared in His word, God hath 
given all that power and authority which are in any 
way needful for their carrying on that order in 

* Congregational Union of England and Wales, 1833. 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 127 

worship and discipline which He hath instituted for 
them to observe." These churches have no bond of 
union on earth ; their only head is Jesus Christ, and 
" the Pope of Home is Antichrist, the man of sin 
and son of perdition." There is no priesthood, 
properly so called, and no sacrifice to be offered, 
while baptism and the Lord's Supper are only signs 
of grace which they neither contain nor confer. 

The confession of faith of the Reformed Churches 
of Piedmont, a.d. 1655, is almost identical with the 
preceding so far as the Church is concerned. The 
Church is the body of the elect, and therefore invis- 
ible, but particular societies are organized by men 
for edification and the promulgation of the Gospel. 
To these societies no divine authority is given. 

The Methodist Articles, drawn up by John Wesley, 
were adopted at a conference in 1784. They teach 
precisely the same doctrine as that of the Church of 
England, merely stating that "the visible Church of 
Christ is a congregation of faithful men in which the 
pure word of God is preached." This definition ap- 
plies to every society, no matter what may be its 
form, and every one is left to decide what the pure 
wt>rd of God is, and thus to settle the question for 
himself. 



128 



Second Lecture, 



The more modern articles of the Reformed Episco- 
pal Church, made in 1875, express clearly the gene- 
rally received Protestant belief. "The souls dis- 
persed in all the world who adhere to Christ by 
faith, who are partakers of the Holy Ghost and 
worship the Father in spirit and in truth, are the 
body of Christ, the house of God, the flock of 
the Good Shepherd, the holy, universal Christian 
Church." This Church is invisible, but "any con- 
gregation of believers in which the pure word of God 
is preached, and baptism and the Lord's Supper are 
duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, is 
a visible church" "The doctrine of 'apostolic suc- 
cession ' in the ministry is wholly rejected as un- 
scriptural and productive of great mischief." 



III. 

The Opposition of the Protestant Doctrine to the 
facts of Christianity. 

The extracts we have made from the principal Con- 
fessions of faith among Protestants prove conclu- 
sively that with them the Church, in the proper 
sense of the term, has ceased to be. Although some 
of them retain the Apostles' Creed, in which there'is 
expressed a belief "in one, holy, Catholic Church," 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 129 

still they never think of applying this phrase to the 
visible societies to which they belong. If they ever 
take the pains to inquire the meaning of the words, 
they refer them to the invisible body of the elect or 
the just throughout all. time. They are not so igno- 
rant or dishonest as to call conflicting and contra- 
dicting sects one body. We find, therefore, that, 
without any exception, they have denied, and still 
deny, first, the visibility of the Church ; and, sec- 
ondly, its unity ; and, thirdly, that in the particu- 
lar congregations which they have organized there 
is not one of the essential notes of the Christian 
Church. 

1. Many.of the Confessions state in so many words 
that the Church of Christ is invisible. It consists 
either of those who are predestined to eternal life or 
of those who are to be saved. No one can in any 
way take such a company of those who are known 
to God alone, as the Church of the Scriptures or of 
Christian antiquity. To say that there are particu- 
lar congregations of visible men who fulfil the con- 
ditions imposed by the Founder of our religion is to 
say nothing. Even if they do fulfil these conditions, 
which is the question to be settled, they cannot 
make a visible Church. They may make churches, 
but one communion they cannot make. They do not 
agree in form, or even in belief ; and they are totally 



130 



Second Lecture. 



independent of each other, without any external 
bond of unity. Therefore in no sense can they con- 
stitute the one visible body which, as we have seen, 
Jesus Christ founded and sent forth with the pro- 
mise of perpetual life. 

Then these particular congregations have no au- 
thority save that which is derived from their mem- 
bers. They cannot teach, since those who are to be 
taught are their masters. The responsibility of be- 
lief can be in no way taken from each individual, 
who in the study of God's word must determine the 
matter of divine revelation and settle all questions 
of faith. If these societies of men were to be joined 
together by some bond of agreement, nothing would 
be added to their character or authority. All the 
men in the world put together can make but a hu- 
man association, whose highest office would be to ex- 
press the sentiments of a merely human concord. We 
would then argue strictly when we say, either one of 
these congregations is the visible Church, or there is 
none upon earth, according to the Protestant doc- 
trine. lN~o one pretends that any one of these numer- 
ous societies is exclusively the Church, and, therefore, 
as all taken together cannot be, there is no visible 
communion of Jesus Christ upon earth. 

2. Unity is necessary to visibility, and so when 
there is no visible Church surely there is no one 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 131 

Church. No one can see two or many congregations 
divided in every sense, and call them one. Unity, 
external and internal, is necessary to any proper one- 
ness. The Church is one by reason of one form, con- 
stitution, and government, and also by reason of 
one doctrine. The unity of the invisible Church is 
not the matter of discussion, nor in any way practi- 
cal to us in this world of sense. 

But with one consent the Protestant symbols deny 
the unity of what they improperly call the visible 
fold of Christ. There is not the semblance of ex- 
terior unity, neither in organization nor in govern- 
ment. There is no bond whatever which binds them 
together. Particular societies with every variety of 
form, as distinct from each other as human organiza- 
tions can be, are incapable of any external oneness. 
The assertion that all are bound to one invisible head, 
Christ our Lord, is a pure assumption gratuitously 
made, which, even if it were true, would not consti- 
tute a visible bond. A visible body requires a visible 
head, else it is either dead or monstrous. The only 
way of justifying the facts of Protestantism is to 
deny at once the need of visible unity, and to say 
that our Divine Lord never established, nor meant 
to establish, any one Church. 

Then for moral or internal unity there is even less 
to be said. There is not one doctrine on which all 



132 



Second Lecture. 



these congregations agree, not one point of unity. 
It is absurd to speak of essentials where there is no 
one authorized to determine what essentials are. Ac- 
cording to the doctrine we have examined, one con- 
gregation is as good as another. They are all sup- 
posed to be the visible Church of Christ, and they 
contradict each other in so complete a manner that, 
taken together as an authority, there is no article 
of the Creed left. Agreeing in the denial of the an- 
cient and universal Church, they have scarcely one 
point of positive belief in common. Can any ra- 
tional mind discover unity here, where confusion has 
reached its supreme height and discord rules unre- 
strained ? No ; we are not bereft of reason alto- 
gether ; and honest Protestants confess that they do 
not believe in any one Church. The Church they 
have is of little consequence to them, but, such as it 
is, they are not so insane as to call it one. If the 
unity of the Christian Church be admitted as a ne- 
cessity by divine institution, their whole system falls, 
and is condemned as the attempt to destroy the work 
of the Son of God. 

3. But let us look at the churches which Pro- 
testantism has brought forth, and see if there be 
one of the essential notes which characterize the 
true Church of Jesus Christ. The first essential 
to such a Church is the divine institution. No 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 133 

one but Jesus Christ can found His Church. This 
divine function belongs to Him alone, and cannot 
be delegated. If He use men as instruments in 
this work, He will by miracles abundantly prove 
that they are His agents. Now, every one of the 
Protestant churches is of modern birth, founded 
by some man or body of men. It is certain that 
Jesus Christ did not found them, and that He could 
have nothing to do with their formation. First, 
they are of too recent an origin to touch in any way 
the personal ministry of the Son of God on earth. 
Secondly, there is no pretence that He in any way 
sanctioned their foundation or authenticated with 
miracles the Reformers who attempted to destroy the 
Christianity of centuries ; on the contrary Protestants 
deny the miracles which have all along illustrated the 
history of the Catholic Church, and scoff at the men- 
tion of anything supernatural. And in no one case 
were well-established miracles adduced to give sanc- 
tion to the institution of any Protestant Church. 
Moreover, it is a fact that the Catholic Church was 
founded by our Lord and gifted with perpetual life. 
This in the preceding lecture we have sufficiently 
proved. All the various Protestant societies, without 
any exception, attack the Catholic faith, and are 
distinguished by opposition to it. If, therefore, the 
Divine Author of Christianity had instituted these 



134 



Second Lecture. 



societies which began their singular existence at the 
Reformation, He would have manifestly contradicted 
Himself. He would have aimed at. the destruction 
of His own work, which is absolutely impossible, for 
God cannot contradict Himself. This is not the whole 
difficulty. One God — and there is only one — could 
not have founded all these churches, since they con- 
tradict and mutually destroy each other. If one be 
right the others are wrong, and yet they all stand 
upon the same plane and have the same claim. One 
can hardly imagine any more impious theory than 
this which makes God the author of confusion, con- 
tradicting Himself and using means for the accom- 
plishment of His own discomfiture before His crea- 
tures. If any mere man had so completely outwit- 
ted himself he would have been rightly ranked among 
the insane. 

There is only one pretence by which the adherents 
of Protestantism attempt to defend their system and 
connect it in some way with the divine authority. 
They say that the Church which Jesus Christ es- 
tablished fell into grievous error, and, apostatizing 
from the faith, ceased to be a Church, and in fact 
became Antichrist. Then the Protestant churches 
sprang up, with the blessing of God, to take the 
place which Antichrist had filled, and revive the 
characteristics of primitive Christianity. The answer 



The Protestant Reformation and the Church. 135 

to this pretence is threefold and sufficiently clear. 
If our Divine Lord allowed His Church to apostatize 
from the faith so as to become His worst enemy on 
earth, He broke His word, and His divine power and 
veracity have failed. Having failed once, and so 
ignominiously, there is no use of His attempting 
another foundation. Secondly, there is no likeness 
whatever between the various Protestant communi- 
ties and the primitive Church, neither in organiza- 
tion nor in doctrine. All the principal Protestant 
creeds deny the truths which were professed by the 
primitive Church and taught by all the early Chris- 
tian Fathers. The Reformation was the creation of 
absolute novelties, and in no sense the revival of any- 
thing which the world had ever known under the 
name of Christianity. Thirdly, it being at once 
admitted that the whole personal work of Jesus 
Christ upon earth had failed, and His Church had 
become a harlot, it would be necessary to restore 
religion so prostrated by all the supernatural means 
which were needed at the beginning. Miracles and 
prophecies would be even more necessary to restore 
confidence completely shaken by the perversion of 
Christianity, and authenticate the Reformers as the 
men of God who were called to the most extraordi- 
nary work ever allotted to mortal. Of these signs of 
a truly supernatural intervention there is not tho 



136 



Second Lecture. 



slightest pretence. It is the peculiar province of 
Protestantism to deny altogether the evidence or 
existence of miracles. And, with few exceptions, 
the Reformers were men distinguished by immo- 
rality, and sometimes by gross crime. Had the di- 
vine wisdom employed such men for anything, it 
would have been a contradiction of all we know and 
believe of God. 

If these various Protestant societies can claim in 
no way the divine institution, they consistently call 
themselves human and deny the whole office of the 
Christian Church. No one of them pretends to fulfil 
on earth the functions of Jesus Christ, or deems 
membership with them to be essential to salvation. 
Of the earth, earthly, they deny to themselves or 
others any divine character or authority. If Jesus 
Christ had ever instituted churches like them, 
according to their own profession, He never gave 
them any power to act in His name. 

It being conclusively proved that the Protestant 
congregations are whollv of human institution, it is 
needless to say that they are neither apostolic nor 
Catholic. Surely they were not founded by the 
apostles or apostolic men, as not one of them began 
before the sixteenth century. Neither have they the 
doctrine of the early teachers of Christianity, all of 
whom held and taught the distinctive dogmas of the 



T HE PR TESTA NT Re FORMA TION A ND THE CHUR CH. 137 

Catholic Church, which is called Antichrist.* They 
subsist upon the private and erroneous interpreta- 
tion of the Scriptures ; but the doctrines and practice 
of primitive Christianity are entirely foreign to their 
system. Besides, as we have seen, they teach no- 
thing, denying much and affirming little, and 
mutually contradicting each other in what they 
affirm. Surely in no sense could their Church or 
churches be called "the pillar and ground of the 
truth." 

As for Catholicity, they were never known until 
fifteen centuries of the Christian era had passed 
away ; and even since then they have made no pro- 
gress which can be called universal. Scarcely ever 
have they extended beyond the land or language 
which gave them birth, while even their growth has 
been a kind of destruction, since in extension they 
have lost their original characteristics. Change has 
been their continual lot ; and in the loss of doctrine 
and alterations of discipline they retain only one of 
their birth-marks, the opposition to the ancient and 
Apostolic Church. Catholic they are in no sense, 
and the very name is so inapplicable to their conflict- 
ing communities that to apply it to them would be 
the sharpest species of ridicule. 

* See " Lectures on Christian Unity," Appendix. 



138 



Second Lecture. 



We come, then, to the conclusion of our argument. 
Protestantism, from its birth and in all its phases, is 
the contradiction of the Church of Christ and the 
denial of its authority. With its doctrines, there 
never was any Church properly so called, and there 
can be none. The only logical position it can take 
is, that a Church is a merely human institution for 
human ends, and in no sense the divine body of 
Jesus Christ, gifted with His life and bearing His 
prerogatives. The whole Reformation proceeded on 
this ground, and by this ground alone can justify 
itself to reason. Here it stands against all the facts 
of Christianity, and contradicts the testimony of 
antiquity and Holy Scripture. Here it is proved to 
be the enemy of the Gospel revealed in and by the 
Incarnate Word. One has to choose between his- 
torical Christianity and the harmony of revelation 
with fact, or to fall to blank denial of all the lessons 
of the past, even those of the great personage of our 
earthly history, the Man- God, our adorable Lord and 
Saviour. Whatever Protestantism may be, it is not 
the religion founded by Jesus Christ, the Christi- 
anity of fifteen centuries. It has nothing in common 
with the great spiritual kingdom which converted 
the world, formed civil society, and taught the sub- 
lime lessons of faith to mankind. Its principles are 
disorder, disobedience, and independence. Its re- 



The Pr o testa nt Re form a tion a nd the Chur ch. 139 

suits are anarchy in the religious world, and faith- 
lessness in the individual heart. Let no one seek a 
Church which is not " the pillar and ground of 
truth." Let no one hope to see and know the 
Saviour of men, except in the divine, visible body 
which His presence sanctifies, which His sacrifice 
defends, which His promise preserves. "As we 
have heard, so have we seen, in the city of our God : 
God hath founded it for ever. Surround Sion, and 
encompass her : tell ye in her towers. Set your 
hearts on her strength, that ye may relate it in 
another generation. For this is God, our God unto 
eternity, and for ever and ever : He shall rule us 
for evermore." * 



Psalm, xlvii. 9-15. 



Lecture Third, 



THE ANGLICAN THEOR T OF THE CHURCH 



Lecture Third, 



TEE ANGLICAN THEORY OF THE CHURCH. 



" Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One 
body and One Spirit ; as you are called in one hope of your calling. 
One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Ono God and father of all, who is 
above all, and through all, and in us all." — Epistle to the Ephesians 
iv. 3-6. 

TN the preceding lecture we have shown that all the 
organizations to which Protestantism has given 
birth have rejected the doctrine and the fact of one 
Catholic and Apostolic Church. If Jesus Christ in- 
stituted a Church they are found guilty of attack- 
ing the work of His hands, and attempting to sub- 
vert the foundation which He declared impregnable 
even against the gates of hell. 

There is, however, one of these Protestant churches 
which, by the mouth of some of its children, refuses 
to own the parents who engendered it, or the birth- 
marks which still disfigure it ; and puts forth claims 
to membership in the one Church of Christ. These 
claims are suicidal to all its interests, and render its 

143 



144 



Third Lecture. 



position untenable ; but logic is not one of its en- 
dowments. The Church by law established in Eng- 
land has never sanctioned these illogical claims, nor 
committed itself to the theory of unity which has 
been advanced by some of its members. Still, the 
claim has been specious enough to deceive many, 
and, in a course of instruction like the present, is 
worthy of a brief examination. The supporters of 
this claim are a very few Episcopalian bishops, and 
a certain number of ministers and laymen, of the 
Church of England or of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the United States. They contend that 
their spiritual mother is not one of the fruits of the 
Reformation, but a true branch of the one, holy, Ca- 
tholic Church. They like to be called Anglicans, on 
account of their national peculiarities ; and they 
would prefer to be called Anglo Catholics, if any 
one but themselves would please to give them this 
strange ecclesiastical title. Their Church is involv- 
ed in all the errors of Protestantism, and has com- 
pletely rejected the communion of the Apostolic See ; 
but in spite of all this, they will insist that they have 
never abandoned the Catholic unity nor rejected the 
Church which Jesus Christ founded. In order to 
justify such a theory, they adopt a new idea of the 
Church which is inconsistent with its existence, and 
is in itself a logical contradiction. No corporate 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 145 

unity is necessary, and the fold of Christ is divided 
into brandies, which, like the Protestant sects, mu- 
tually deny and destroy each, other. Nevertheless, 
though divided, they are one ; though utterly use- 
less to teach mankind, they constitute the one visible 
fold of Jesus Christ upon earth. A brief examina- 
tion of this theory of the Church, and of the nature 
and history of the English schism, will sufficiently 
show the absurdity of their pretensions, and still 
further establish the Catholic and only possible doc- 
trine of unity. We shall find that there are no 
greater enemies to the Church of God than those 
who counterfeit her priesthood, and attack the work 
of the Incarnate Lord in His body, which is essen- 
tially one and " the fulness of Him who is filled all 
in all." Let us look at facts as they are, and never 
seek to deceive ourselves by any specious pretexts 
which will never avail us before the eyes of God. It 
is a sad folly "to change the truth of God into a lie, 
and to worship and serve the creature rather than the 
Creator, who is blessed for ever." * 

The subject, then, of this evening's lecture will 
lead us to examine briefly — 

First, the origin and growth of the Anglican 
Church ; secondly, the peculiarities of its system ; 



* Romans i. 25. 



146 



Third Leciure. 



thirdly, its complete antagonism to the whole Ca- 
tholic faith ; and, lastly, the absurdity of the 'branch 
theory of ecclesiastical unity. 

I. 

The Origin and Growth of the Anglican Church. 

It is hardly necessary to say that we speak of the 
present established Church of England, and not of 
an imaginary body which might have been and yet 
never was. Some Anglicans love to seek their birth 
at a more distant time, and trace their origin from a 
purer source. We have been told, with all the fair- 
ness which distinguishes the "Arabian Mghts," that 
the Church of England was founded by St. Paul ; 
and we have even heard, in words worthy of an in- 
sane asylum, of an Ephesine succession which gave 
great peculiarities to the Church over which Augus- 
tine presided.* We have nothing to do with any- 
thing which does not now exist. If St. Paul preach- 
ed the Gospel in England, the Church which he 
planted was, like every other apostolic Church, in 
unity with the see of Peter and the vicar of Christ. 
There were, however, but few remnants of Chris- 
tianity when Augustine, commissioned by Pope St. 

* See "Protestant Episcopal Claims Disproved,'' by Rt. Rev. Dr. 
Ryan, Part II. pp. 4-10. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 147 

Gregory, landed in England and established there 
the foundations of the Catholic Church. The great 
pontiff to whom the conversion of England is due, 
by his supreme authority established the hierarchy, 
divided the octarchy into two ecclesiastical provin- 
ces, and gave to Augustine, his legate, jurisdiction 
over all the bishops of the Britons. Says Dr. Lin- 
gard : "From the conversion of the Saxons the zeal 
of Augustine was directed to the reformation of the 
Britons. During one hundred and fifty years of un- 
successful warfare the ancient discipline of their 
Church had been nearly abolished, and the lives of 
the clergy were disgraced by vices the most repug- 
nant to their profession. To which of the British 
sees the archiepiscopal jurisdiction had been origi- 
nally attached is at present unknown ; but Gregory 
had written to Augustine that he had subjected all 
the bishops of Britain to his authority." * From 
that day until the reign of Henry VIII. the 
English. Church was in union with the Apostolic 
See, and in willing obedience to all its disci- 
pline. The Anglican communion, as it now ex- 
ists, is entirely distinct from the ancient Catholic 
Church of Augustine and his successors. It is, as 
plainly as any of the Continental sects, the fruit of 



*Lingard, " History of England," I. 78. 



148 



Third Lecture. 



the Reformation, and owes its existence to the com- 
bined labors of Henry VIII. and his illegitimate 
daughter, Elizabeth. Bishops and priests were not 
its fathers. There were, indeed, some apostates and 
many pliant tools. The nation was, however, forced 
into schism by the crown, which for its own pur- 
poses usurped the prerogatives of the Papacy. His- 
tory is so plain upon this point that there is little 
need of any demonstration. The act of Henry VIII., 
in severing himself and those who would follow 
him from the communion of the Church, was no 
fruit of conscience. It was the dictate of unbridled 
lust and crime which has no parallel in history. 
He produced a rupture with the Holy See only 
when its apostolic power stood in the way of his 
passions. Listen to the language of this king in his 
early days, when he took upon himself the defence 
of the faith against Luther. " There was a time," 
said he, when the faith had no need of defenders ; 
it had no enemies. Now it has one who exceeds 
in malignity all his predecessors, who is instigated 
by the devil, who covers himself with the shield of 
charity, and, full of hatred and wrath, discharges 
his viper-ish venom against the Church and Catholi- 
cism. Wherefore every Christian soul, every servant 
o£ Christ, of whatever sex, age, or order, must rise 
against this common enemy." "He compares the 



The A xg lic ax Theory of the Church. 149 

Holy See to the impure Babylon, treats as a tyrant 
the Sovereign Pontiff, and makes that holy name sy- 
nonymous with Antichrist. He is a man of pride, 
blasphemy, and schism ; a devouring wolf, who would 
rend the flesh of the Christian flock ; a child of the 
devil, who seeks to wile the sheep from their pas- 
tor." "Let him deny, then, that the whole Chris- 
tian community salutes Rome as her mother and 
spiritual guide. Christians at the extremities of the 
world, and separated by oceans and deserts, obey 
the Holy See. If, then, this immense power has 
been acquired by the pope neither by the orders of 
God nor by the will of man ; if it be an usurpation 
and a robbery, let Luther point out its origin. The 
source of so great a power cannot be enveloped in 
darkness, especially if its history be known. But 
if this power is so old that its beginning is lost in 
the night of ages, then he must be aware that human 
la^vs establish that all possession is lawful, the ori- 
gin of which memory cannot trace ; and that, by the 
consent of nations, it is forbidden to touch that 
which time has made immutable." * 

The defender of the pope against the Reform- 
ers never lost his convictions, but when the power of 
the vicar of Christ restrained his crimes he entered 

* Audin, " Life of Luther/' II. 51-53. 



150 



Third Lecture. 



upon open rebellion. The accident of his shameful 
lust was the birth of the Reformation and the Re- 
formed Church in England. The Protestant Bishop 
Short admits that " the chief mover of the Re- 
formation in his country was a king brought up 
with a high respect and admiration for those doc- 
trines which were combated by the Reformers." 
"The existence" says he, "of the Church of Eng- 
land, as a distinct body, and her final separation 
from Rome, may be dated from the period of the di- 
vorce."'" The Homilies of the Church of England, 
issued by authority to be read to the people, use the 
following words: "Honor be to God, who did put 
light in the heart of His faithful and true minister of 
most famous memory, King Henry YIII., and gave 
him the knowledge of His word, and an earnest af- 
fection to seeli His glory, and to put away all such 
superstitious and pharisaical sects by Antichrist in- 
vented and set up against the true word of God, and 
glory of His most blessed name, as He gave the like 
spirit unto the most noble and famous princes, Josa- 
phat, Josias, and Ezechias." f Says Bishop Burnet : 
"He was a great instrument in the hand of Provi- 
dence for many good ends. He first opened the door 
to let light in upon the nation. He attacked pox>ery 

* Short's "History of the Church of England/' pp. 53, 44. 
f Homilies, London ed., p. 59. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 151 

in its strongholds, and thus he opened the way to all 
that came after, even down to our days. Above all 
we ought to adore the goodness of God in rescuing 
us, by Ms means, from idolatry and superstition." * 
" Henry VIII.," says Macaulay, "attempted to 
constitute an Anglican Church differing from the Ro- 
man Catholic Church on the point of the supremacy, 
and on that point alone. His success in this attempt 
was extraordinary. The force of his character, the 
singularly favorable situation in which he stood with 
respect to foreign powers, the immense wealth which 
the spoliation of the abbeys placed at his disposal, 
and the support of that class which still halted be- 
tween two opinions, enabled him to bid defiance to 
both the extreme parties." f "We are accustom- 
ed," says Disraeli, in his "Amenities of Litera- 
ture," "to trace the Reformation to Henry VIII., 
but small, in verity, are the claims of this sovereign 
upon posterity. The other great event of the Refor- 
mation, the assumption of the spiritual supremacy, 
accorded with the national independence from a 
foreign jurisdiction. The policy was English, but it 
originated in the private passions of the monarch. 
Assuredly had the tiara deigned to nod to the royal 
solicitor, then had the defender of the faith only 

* Burnet, " History of the Reformation," III. 261, 262. ' 
f " History of England," I. p. 55. 



152 



Third Lecture. 



given to the world another edition of his book 
against Luther." Says Dixon, Canon of Carlisle, in 
his " History of the Church of England" : "As to 
German Protestantism, it undoubtedly had a facti- 
tious influence here, but it had made no deep impres- 
sion on the nation. The king was more completely 
the man of the times than any jDerson in the realm. 
A man of force, without grandeur ; of great ability, 
but not of lofty intellect ; punctilious, and yet un- 
scrupulous ; centred in himself ; greedy and profuse ; 
cunning rather than sagacious ; of fearful passions 
and intolerable pride ; a character of degraded mag- 
nificence." "That such a king was on the throne 
was the circumstance which, above all others, 
brought on the Reformation. The usual elements 
of disturbance were at work ; but they might have 
been overruled, as they had been hitherto, but for 
Henry and his personal character and history." * 

The Rev. F. G. Lee, Vicar of All-Saints', Lambeth, 
an English clergyman, thus writes: "Humanly 
speaking, the severance of England from the rest of 
Christendom in religious and ecclesiastical matters, 
and the repudiation of the primacy of the Apostolic 
See, were brought about by the king's divorce of his 
lawful wife and his alliance with Anne Boleyn. The 



- Dixon, " History," I. 4, 5. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 153 

complications then caused ended in the visible sepa- 
ration of England from Catholic nations on the Con- 
tinent, and have sealed her continued irreligious iso- 
lation ever since." * 

The Reformation in England, which thus owed its 
beginning to the passions of a degraded monarch, 
was carried on as if it were his personal work. The 
first step was to deny the papal supremacy, and 
then to make himself the head of the Church with 
all papal prerogatives. Two things were thus effect- 
ed : the laws of the Catholic Church were broken, 
and communion with the Apostolic See suspended ; 
and the king, in virtue of his assumed rights, pro- 
ceeded to arrange all ecclesiastical matters to his 
own liking. As we have already *seen in the preced- 
ing lecture, the clergy were forced into complete sub- 
mission, and gave up all their spiritual powers into 
his hands. In 1531 the Convocation accepted and 
promulgated the royal supremacy: "We acknow- 
ledge his majesty to be the singular protector, 
only and supreme lord, and, so far as the law 
of Christ allows, supreme head of the English 
Church and clergy." f We now quote from 
Knight's " Popular History of England": "The 
Parliament assembled in November, 1534, had some 

* Lee, u History of the Reformation," p. 289. f Dixon, I. 64. 



154 



Third Lecture. 



root-and-hrancli work to do at the bidding of their 
imperious master. The first law which they pass- 
ed was an 'act concerning the king's highness to 
be supreme head of the Church of England, and 
to have authority to reform and redress all errors, 
heresies, and abuses in the same.' This is a short 
statute, but of high significance. There was no 
power now to stand between the people and the ex- 
ercise of unbridled despotism. The most arbitrary 
man that had ever wielded the large prerogatives of 
sovereignty had now united in his person the tempo- 
ral and spiritual supremacy. The ecclesiastical au-. 
thority which had regulated the English Church for 
eight hundred years was gone. The feudal organi- 
zation which had held the sovereign in some submis- 
sion to ancient laws and usages of freedom was gone. 
The crown had become all in ail. The whole system 
of human intercourse in England was to be sub- 
ordinated to one supreme head — king and pope in 
one. The most enslaving terror was to uphold this 
system throughout the land. The sheriff in every 
county was to be a spy upon the clergy, and to re- 
port if they truly spoke of the king as supreme 
head of the Church, without any cloak or color. 
No Amurath of the Turks could write more inso- 
lently to his provincial slaves than Henry of Eng- 
land wrote to his sheriffs, that if they failed in this 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 155 

service 'we, like a prince of justice, will so ex- 
tremely punish you for the same that all the world 
shall take by your example, and beware, contrary 
to their allegiance, to disobey the lawful command- 
ment of their sovereign lord.' The higher clergy 
were terrified into the most abject submission before 
this spiritual lord." " The new dignity of the king 
was to conduce as much to his profit as to his honor. 
The Lords and Commons crawl at his feet in this 
Parliament of 1534-35, and humbly request that he 
will be pleased, as their ' most gracious sovereign 
lord, upon whom depend all their joy and wealth,' 
to receive the first fruits of all spiritual dignities and 
promotions, ' ' ' ' Whoever sought to deprive the king, 
the queen, or their heirs-apparent of the dignity, 
title, or name of their royal estates was now declared 
to be a traitor. To deny the king the title of su- 
preme head of the Church was, therefore, treason." * 
This title with the power which Henry assumed was 
the destruction of the ancient Church, and the crea- 
tion of a new ecclesiastical polity never before known 
in Christendom. "What Henry and his favorite 
counsellors meant," says Macaulay, " at one time, by 
the supremacy, was certainly nothing less than the 
whole power of the keys. The king was to be the 

* Knight's " History," IT. 356-358. 



15G 



Third Lecture. 



pope of his kingdom, the expositor of Catholic 
verity, the channel of sacramental graces. He ar- 
rogated to himself the right of deciding dogmati- 
cally what was orthodox doctrine and what was 
heresy, of drawing up and imposing confessions of 
faith, and of giving religious instruction to his 
people. He proclaimed that all jurisdiction, spirit- 
ual as well as temporal, was derived from him alone, 
and that it was in his power to confer episcopal au- 
thority and to take it away. He actually ordered his 
seal to be put to commissions by which bishops were 
appointed, who were to exercise their functions as 
his deputies and during his pleasure. According to 
this system, as expounded by Cranmer, the king was 
the spiritual as well as temporal chief of the na- 
tion. In both capacities his highness must have 
lieutenants. As he appointed civil officers to keep 
his seal, to collect his revenues, and to dispense jus- 
tice in his name, so he appointed divines of various 
ranks to preach the Gospel and administer the sacra- 
ments." * 

Proceeding then to execute his high office, 4< as 
having," to use his own language, "the supreme 
authority under Christ over the Anglican Church," 
his first step was to create a lay vicar-general to 



* " History of England," I. p. 60. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 157 

aid him in his functions, and represent him before 
the people. Says Dixon : ' ' The first act of the 
supreme head of the English Church was to ap- 
point a vicar-general in things ecclesiastical." ''The 
vicar-general whom he chose was Thomas Cromwell. 
During the five most momentous years of her 
existence the fate of the English Church was in 
the hands of the most unscrupulous of men. He was 
invested with power over life and property such 
as no English subject has ever wielded. Never 
hesitating to employ the vilest means, but always 
acting with a caution which ensured the approbation 
of the supreme head, he effected a revolution of 
which the results and consequences will be felt ever- 
lastingly. This creation of a vicar-general was the 
first of the various modes by which, from that day 
to this, the spiritual jurisdiction of the crown has 
been put in commission." * 

So Henry's work went bravely on. The English 
Bishop Short thus writes: " Henry now suspended 
all the bishops from the use of their episcopal 
authority, during the visitation which he purposed 
to institute ; and after a time the power of exercis- 
ing it was restored by a commission to the following 
effect, which was granted to each of them on their 



* Dixon, "History of the Church of England," I. 2.42. 



158 



Third Lecture. 



petitioning for it : k Since all authority, civil and 
ecclesiastical, flows from the crown, and since Crom- 
well, to whom the ecclesiastical part has been com- 
mitted, is so occujDied that he cannot fully exercise 
it, we commit to you the license of ordaining, prov- 
ing wills, and using other ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 
besides those things which are committed to you 
by God in Holy Scripture, and we allow you to hold 
this authority, during our pleasure, as you must 
answer to God and to us.' It must be confessed 
that this commission seems rather to outstep the 
limits of that authority which God has committed 
to the civil magistrate ; but in this case there was 
no opposition raised on the part of the bishops, 
excepting by Gardiner, and when the suspension 
was taken off they continued to perform the usual 
duties of their office."* 

The Church being thus completely at the mercy 
of the monarch, its head ; the work of reformation 
was conducted on the same principles, and decrees 
concerning faith were promulgated by the royal 
will. We continue the words of Bishop Short : " The 
plan of reformation pursued by Cranmer was to 
entrust the task of reforming any particular branch 
of Church matters to a committee of divines ap- 



* Short's " History of the Church of England," § 201. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 159 



pointed, by the crown, sometimes on the ground of 
the ecclesiastical supremacy, and sometimes under 
an act of Parliament, and then to sanction the result 
by a fresh bill, or by publishing it under the royal 
authority." "This method of proceeding may be 
esteemed very unconstitutional with regard to the 
Convocation ; but if the supreme authority be lodged 
in the chief magistrate, in him, too, must be vested 
the power of finally approving or rejecting all regu- 
lations with regard to the service of the Church." 
"The Articles of Religion, published in 1553 might 
appear, from their title, to have derived their autho- 
rity from Convocation ; but if they were ever sub- 
mitted to the ujjper house, which is very question- 
able, it is indubitable that they were never brought 
before the lower, while all the original mandates 
which remain prove that they were promulgated by 
the royal proclamation alone." * The liberties of 
the Church thus fell with the obedience to the 
Apostolic See, and to this day the Church of Eng- 
land is absolutely without any freedom to act in 
matters either of faith or of discipline. Says Rev. 
Dr. Lee, from whom we have already quoted : "In 
the early part of the year 1534 Parliament assembled, 
and enacted that no canons nor constitutions should 



* Short's "History," §§ 338, 484. 



160 



Third Lecture. 



be made without tlie king's consent; that appeals 
in spiritual causes might be carried from the eccle- 
siastical courts to the Court of Chancery, but that 
henceforth none should be made to the pope. By 
the same authority it was enacted that bishops were 
to be made and consecrated without the leave of the 
pope — a proceeding for which there was no precedent 
since the coming of St. Augustine. It was likewise 
decreed that the king and the archbishops shall 
grant the dispensations hitherto obtained from Rome. 
On a see becoming vacant the king was authorized 
to issue his conge cVelire within twelve days, nomi- 
nating the person whom he himself had selected ; 
that in case of refusal by the dean and chapter, or 
by the prior and monks, the absolute selection of a 
bishop by the crown should at once follow ; that the 
person so selected should swear obedience in things 
spiritual, and fealty to the king; that the supreme 
head should inform the archbishop of the province 
of his highness' appointment, and, if there were no 
archbishop, four bishops, who were to confirm the 
election, impart the episcopal character, and by sub- 
sequent process invest the bishop with the tempo - 
ralities of his see. Thus grave and startling changes 
were introduced, by which the traditions of nine 
centuries, common to every other part of the family 
of God, were abolished. That innovation, however, 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 161 



was sufficient to amaze and startle, which had ta- 
ken away from the pope all such authority as by 
obvious necessity had existed in England since the 
days of the mission of St. Augustine. For the 
kingdom of Christ was universal and world-wide, 
its laws being framed for all nations, while the king- 
dom of England was, comparatively speaking, new 
and national. When, therefore, in the summer of 
the year 1534, the king's proclamation, declaring this 
change as regards ecclesiastical authority, went forth 
and was heard ; and when men found that what 
had been admitted and allowed in England for nearly 
ten centuries was henceforth to involve those who 
did not see their way to change, in a charge of high 
treason, there were many ominous forecasts of the 
future." * 

The supreme head was perfectly equal to every 
emergency, and possessed of power to regulate all 
matters of faith. The bishops and clergy were under 
his complete control, and either must be obedient 
vassals or risk their lives. We quote from Dixon : 
" A royal greeting was prefixed to the first Articles 
of the English Church, which discovered the solici- 
tude of the king to promote unity. As supreme 
head on earth of the Church the king -was made to 

* Lee, "Historical Sketches of the Reformation," pp. 224, 225. 



162 



Third Lecture. 



declare that it belonged to his office to preserve con 
cord in religion, and to repress all occasions of dis- 
sent and discord." 

" The vicegerent of the supreme head (Cromwell ) 
had, as became his office, a powerful talent for 
lecturing the clergy. Under the well-known name 
of injunctions, he published this year (1536) a 
set of stringent regulations in which the clergy 
found many new duties laid upon them ; and when, 
by the weight of royal authority, they were com- 
pelled not only to receive with submission, but to 
publish to their flocks, the rebukes with which they 
were chastened, it may be acknowledged that the 
art of lecturing the clergy reached great excellence 
at an early period. Upon pain of deprivation, se- 
questration, or such other penalty as might seem 
good to the king or his vicegerent, they were ordered 
to read these injunctions openly and deliberately 
to their parishioners once every quarter of the year, 
and to observe and keep them. The injunctions were 
of a more intolerant tone than the king's Articles, 
and spoke with some opprobrium of things which 
were regarded and taught as part of the Catholic 
customs of the Church.'' Before these injunctions 
were given to the clerg}^ "the king ordered the 
pulpits to be closed for three months. No sermons 
were to be preached in any church, chapel, monas- 



The Anglic ax Theory of the Church. 163 



tery, college, or other place, unless it were by the 
bishops themselves, or in presence of the bishops, or 
in their cathedral churches where sermons were wont 
to be made ; which cathedral sermons were to be 
furnished with discreet, learned, and honest preach- 
ers, at the bishop's peril. All licenses were to be 
recalled ; all curates and governors of religious 
houses were forbidden to preach or to permit any 
manner of conventicles, of private communication, 
arguments, or disputations of any such matters. 
They were to pass over the time in a secret silence 
till they were advertised otherwise." 

As for the bishops, they were addressed "in the 
strain familiar to those unfortunate functionaries. 
We, said the supreme head, have advanced you to 
the room and office of a bishop within this realm, 
and endowed you with great dignities and posses- 
sions, judging you a virtuous and learned per- 
son, that would set forth the word of God plainly 
and purely, and instruct our people therein. We 
have admonished and commanded you to preach 
sincerely, and to declare abuses plainly. But by 
some so little regard was paid to our advertise- 
ment that we were constrained to put our own pen 
to the book, and to conceive certain Articles, which 
were agreed upon by the whole clergy in convoca- 
tion, as Catholic and necessary to bring our sub- 



164 



Third Lecture. 



jects to unity and concord. But our labors are de- 
feated ; general and contemptuous words are spoken 
by light and seditious persons, and there is a want 
of plain and direct declaration of our Articles. We, 
therefore, warn you peremptorily to demean your- 
self for the redubbing of these things, upon pain of 
deprivation and punishment for contempt. Read 
and declare our Articles every holiday plainly and 
distinctly ; and never add a word of your own that 
may make them doubtful to the people. Travel 
from place to place, as you commodiously can, 
and every holiday make a collation to the people, 
declaring the obedience which they owe to their 
prince, whose commandment they ought not to re- 
sist, though it were unjust." * 

In the Parliament, June 28, 1539, an act was pass- 
ed by the king 1 s command ' ' to abolish diversity of 
opinions in certain Articles concerning the Christian 
religion." "It was," says Dixon, "a new heresy 
act, proceeding not from the Church, though sanc- 
tioned as to doctrine by the Southern Convocation, 
but from Parliament, at the commandment of the 
king and on the instance of a layman." "The 
statute proceeded to enact pain of death by way 
of burning, with loss of goods, against all persons 



* Dixon's "History of the Church of England." I. pp. 421, 444, 468. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 165 

convicted of speaking against the first of them. No 
abj uration was allowed to excuse the offender. The 
loss of goods and imprisonment at the king's plea- 
sure were the penalties attached to the first offence 
against any of the other five Articles ; for the second 
offence the punishment was the death of a felon, 
without clergy." * As Hallam justly observes, "The 
king claimed a power to declare heresy by procla- 
mation under pain of death." "The effect of these 
various enactments was not so notable as it might 
be supposed. Freedom, already submerged beneath 
the laws of verbal treason and the rest of the gene- 
rous concessions of the last Parliament to the pre- 
rogative, could hardly be drenched deeper by the 
Act of Proclamations." f 

Severe persecutions followed the enforcement of 
these six Articles of Religion. "Cranmer," sa}^s 
Archbishop Spalding, "did not believe in all, if in 
any, of these Articles ; in direct opposition to two 
of them, and in contravention of his own solemn 
priestly vows, he had secretly married a wife whom 
he still retained at his palace; yet he subscribed 
them all and aided in their bloody execution. With 
his assistance, if not at his instigation, Catholics and 
Protestants were executed together ; the former per- 



* Dixon's " History," II. 122-124 



f Dixon, II. 134. 



166 



Third Lecture. 



isliing as traitors for denying the king's supremacy, 
and the latter burning at the stake for rejecting some 
Article which the king and his Parliament had cho- 
sen to adopt as the faith of the new Anglican Church 
for the time beiug." * 

At last the monster, who had seized the liberties 
of the Church and trampled upon its constitution, 
died. The father of the English Reformation went 
before his Judge, leaving his work to be accomplish- 
ed by the ministers whom his will bad trained. "A 
great tyrant," says Dixon, "tries the nature of men : 
nor have we the right, if we witness, to exult over 
the spectacle of the humiliations, the frailties, or the 
crimes of those whose fears, whose cupidity were 
excited by such a sovereign as Henry. Under him 
all were distorted, all were made worse than they 
would have been. It is the last baseness of tyranny 
not to perceive genius. Of Seneca and Lucan the 
slaughterer was Nero. Henry VIII. laid the founda- 
tions of his revolution in the English Erasmus, and 
set up the gates thereof in the English Petrarch." f 
"The burden of these crimes is laid, as a matter of 
course, by one writer after another, upon the cler- 
gy, and especially upon the bishops ; but the reader 
will by this time have perceived that the clergy had 

* Archbishop Spalding, "Protestant Reformation," II. 105. 
f Dixon, II. 409. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 167 



wonderfully little to do with them ; that they broke 
out whenever the king desired it, and ceased at his 
command." * "He is the only prince of modern 
times," says Mackintosh, "who carried judicial mur- 
der into his bed, and imbrued his hands in the blood 
of those whom he had caressed." f Such as he was, 
he was the father of the present Anglican Church, 
and has stamped his character upon it, with all the 
odious and unjust claims which gave it birth. Es- 
sentially it is a legal establishment depending upon 
the prerogatives of the monarch, and existing in the 
favor of royal patronage. Had Henry VIII. been 
less passionate, less unscrupulous as to his duty to 
God and man, the Anglican Church, as we know it 
now, would never have had being. 

After the death of Henry, in 1547, the short reign 
of Edward VI. followed. This sickly boy was the 
complete tool of Somerset and Cranmer, who pro- 
ceeded to carry into effect the work already begun. 
The royal supremacy was made to bear all burdens 
and accomplish all reforms. " Even before the prince 
was crowned it came into the mind of Cranmer, so 
great was his loyalty, that it would be desirable for 
him and the other bishops to renew their commis- 
sions as functionaries of the new king. He there- 

* Dixon, II. 404. f Mackintosh's " History of England," pp. 237-8. 



1G8 



Third Lecture. 



fore issued or caused to be issued again, without 
delay, those curious instruments in which, in the 
late reign, the bishops had acknowledged themselves 
the commissaries of the supreme head. When the 
coronation was made he took occasion to mark 
his opinions by the manner in which he arranged 
and performed the ceremonies." " Instead of a ser- 
mon, he addressed the new king in a speech or ora- 
tion, in which he hailed him as God's vicegerent 
and Christ's vicar, as a new Josias who was to re- 
form the worship of God, destroy idolatry, banish 
the Bishop of Rome, and remove images." * The 
Reformation was carried on throughout this short 
reign by the commissions which acted under the 
royal authority. A visitation of all the dioceses of 
the realm was ordered, the visitors to be composed 
of laymen and clergymen, and during its continu- 
ance the jurisdiction of the ordinaries was suspend- 
ed. Cranmer published his book of Homilies, and 
the Parliament declared that all jurisdiction, both 
spiritual and temporal, is derived from the king. 
The Book of Common Prayer was adopted by Par- 
liament in 1549, and made obligatory throughout 
the kingdom, under the usual pains and penalties 
for nonconformity. "The power of preaching was 



* Dixon, II. 413. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 169 

taken away from the parish priests even in their 
own churches ; none might preach henceforth save 
bishops and licensed preachers ; and licensed preach- 
ers were not to be refused or denied to preach." 
"The power of granting licenses, which had been 
shared by the bishop- of every see, was now restricted 
to the king, to the protector, and to Cranmer; and 
the licenses which were issued were accompanied by 
a salutary admonition. The preachers were to look 
to the acts of Parliament, the proclamations, and 
the Homilies, and to keep to them." * 

Forty- t wo Articles of Religion were prepared by 
Cranmer and his associates and issued in 1553, to be 
subscribed by all clergymen possessed of benefices. 
There was no appeal from the arbitrary acts of this 
high commission, which used at its will the powers 
of the royal supremacy. Gardiner, Bishop of Win- 
chester, was sent to the Tower, where he remained in 
close confinement till the death of Edward. Others 
who had the courage to speak in opposition to Cran- 
mer and his proceedings encountered even a more 
cruel fate. Despotism never reached a greater 
height. The bulk of the English people were to- 
tally opposed to the change of religion, as even Hal- 
lam admits, writing as follows: "The common peo- 



* Dixon, II. 530. 



170 



Third Lecture. 



pie, especially in remote counties, had been used to an 
implicit reverence for the Holy See." "They look- 
ed up also to their own teachers as guides in faith ; 
and the main body of the clergy were certainly very 
reluctant to tear themselves, at the pleasure of a dis- 
appointed monarch, in the most dangerous crisis of re- 
ligion, from the bosom of Catholic unity. They com- 
plied, indeed, with all the measures of government 
far more than men of rigid conscience could have 
endured to do ; but many who wanted the courage 
of More and Fisher were not far removed from their 
way of thinking." * Foreign troops were called to 
repress the tumults which arose. "The true secret 
of it on both sides," says Burnet, "was this: the 
bulk of the people of England, was still possessed of 
the old superstition to such a degree that it was vis- 
ible the}^ could not be depended on in any matter 
that related to the alterations that were made, or 
were designed to be made ; whereas the Germans 
were full of zeal on the other side, so that they 
might well be trusted ; and the princes of Germa- 
ny, who were then kept under by the emperor, were 
willing to put their troops in the hands of the pre- 
sent government of England. However, this had 
an odious name put on it, and was called a ruling 



*Haliam, "Const. History of England," p. 49. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 171 

by strangers."* There is no need to follow this 
subject at greater length. It is more than manifest, 
from these Protestant testimonies which we have 
adduced, that the crown was the agent in the refor- 
mation of the English Church, and that it owes its 
being to the royal supremacy, of which Henry VIII. 
was the father. It is hard to understand how a 
great nation could have been so completely at the 
beck of the unprincipled sovereign who defied all 
law, divine and human, and trampled upon the civil 
as well as the ecclesiastical constitution. But brute 
force will often triumph over reason, and might 
overcome right. There are few who will stand in 
persevering courage and defend the truth with their 
lives. 

Edward VI. died July 6, 1553, but his counsellors 
kept his death secret, that they might seize on Mary, 
the heir to the throne, and either imprison her or 
put her out of their way. Receiving timely warn- 
ing of their intention and her danger, she fled to 
Kenninghall, in Norfolk. The conspiracy to deprive 
her of her right to the crown, and to enthrone the 
unfortunate Lady Jane Grey in her place, was the 
work of Cranmer and his party, in their dying strug- 
gle to maintain their power, f ' ' Their attempt to 

* Burnet, " History of the Reformation," III. 285, 286. 
f See Burnet, II. 380-370. 



172 



Third Lecture. 



create popular excitement, by combining disloyalty 
and rebellion with, the new religion, failed. The loy- 
alty of the people was still too deeply rooted. They 
were heartily tired of the perpetual changes in re- 
ligion ; and when Mary unfurled her banner they 
rose in mass and bore her in triumph to the throne, 
while the armies of her enemies, till lately so formi- 
dable, melted away at her approach." * The short 
reign of Mary then interrupted the plans of refor- 
mation, began the work of reconciliation with the 
Holy See, and gave back to the oppressed Church 
its liberty. Yet the early death of the queen and 
the accession of Elizabeth put an end to the hopes 
of the nation, and gave the finishing strokes to 
the building of the Anglican establishment which 
Henry VIII. had founded. 

Elizabeth was crowned by Oglethorpe, Bishop of 
Carlisle, on January 15, 1559. This ceremony took 
place on the express condition that the entire ser- 
vice should be performed, and that the queen should 
take the oath to uphold the Catholic religion. This 
oath she took with all solemnity, and sealed it by 
the reception of the Holy Sacrament. On the 18th 
of March following, the Parliament, with the dis- 
sent of nearly all the bishops, passed the act which 



* Archbishop Spalding, II. 122, 123. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 173 

sought to abolish that religion in England. "By 
it," says Burnet, "all the acts passed in the reign 
of King Henry, for the abolishing of the pope's 
power, are again revived, and the acts in Queen 
Mary's time to the contrary are repealed." "They 
declared the authority of visiting, correcting, and 
reforming all things in the Church to be for ever 
annexed to the crown, which the queen and her suc- 
cessors might, by their letters-patent, depute to any 
persons to exercise in her name. All bishops and 
other ecclesiastical persons, and all in any civil em- 
ployment, were required to swear that they acknow- 
ledged the queen to be the supreme governor in all 
causes ; as well ecclesiastical as temporal, within her 
dominions ; that they renounced all foreign power 
and jurisdiction, and should bear the queen true 
faith and allegiance." * Penalties for the refusal 
to take this oath were forfeiture of any office or 
employment in the Church or the state ; and any 
one who should speak or act against this statute 
was made liable to loss of all goods, imprisonment, 
and the punishments assigned to treason. The re- 
monstrances of the bishops and clergy were fruit- 
less. They were not even considered by the su- 
preme head. "The Convocation presented to the 



* Burnet's " History of the Reformation," II. 598, 597, 



174 



Third Lecture. 



House of Lords a declaration of its belief in the 
Real Presence, transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the 
Mass, and the supremacy of the pope ; with a pro- 
testation that to decide on doctrine, sacraments, and 
discipline belonged not to any lay assembly, but to 
the lawful pastors of the Church." * The plan re- 
solved upon by Elizabeth, at the suggestion of her 
counsellors, was : "1. To forbid all manner of ser- 
mons, that the preachers might not excite their hear- 
ers to resistance. 2. To intimidate the clergy by pro- 
secutions under the statute of praemunire and other 
penal laws. 3. To debase in the eyes of the people 
all who had been in authority under the late queen, 
by rigorous inquiries into their conduct, and by 
bringing them, whenever it was possible, under the 
lash of the law. 4. To remove the present magis- 
trates and to arypoint others, meaner in substance 
and younger in years, but better affected towards 
the Reformed doctrines. 5. To name a secret com- 
mittee of divines, who should revise and correct the 
liturgy of Edward VI. And, lastly, to communicate 
the matter to no other persons than Parr, the late 
Marquis of Northampton, the Earls of Bedford and 
Pembroke, and the Lord John Grey, till the time 
should arrive when it must be laid before the whole 

* Lingard, " History of England," VII. 260. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 175 

council." * Thus the steps of Henry VIII. were 
closely followed, and the supreme governor of the 
Church was able to establish by force the religion 
which the majority of the people rejected. Says Ma- 
caulay, in his review of "Hallam's Constitutional 
History": "Elizabeth clearly discerned the advan- 
tages which were to be derived from a close connec- 
tion between the monarchy and the priesthood. Her 
imperious temper, her keen sagacity, and her pecu- 
liar situation led her to attach herself completely to 
a Church wliicli was all her own. On the same 
principle, when she joined it, she attempted to drive 
all her people within its pale by persecution. She 
supported it by severe penal laws, not because she 
thought conformity to its discipline necessary to sal- 
vation, but because it was the fastness which arbitra- 
ry power was making strong for itself ; because she 
expected a more profound obedience from those who 
saw in her both their civil and ecclesiastical head, 
than from those who, like the Papists, ascribed spi- 
ritual authority to the pope ; or from those who, 
like some of the Puritans, ascribed it only to heaven. 
To dissent from her establishment was to dissent 
from an institution founded with an express mew 
to the maintenance and extension of the royal pre- 
rogative." 

* Lingard, VII. 254. 



17G Third Lecture. 



"The creed of the new Church, like its worship, 
had undergone various changes. Under Henry VIII. 
the number of Articles to be believed under penalty 
of death was reduced to six ; under Edward these 
six were all excluded and forty-two were substituted 
in their place ; under Elizabeth the matter of doc- 
trine was still further reconsidered, and the number 
of Articles was reduced to thirty-nine, as they stand 
to this day." * These Articles were published by 
law in the Parliament of 1571. 

Before the publication of these Articles of faith 
the Parliament of 1562 and 1563 extended the obli- 
gation of taking the oath of the royal supremacy 
"to members of the House of Commons, to school- 
masters, private tutors, and attorneys, to all persons 
who had ever held office in the Church or in any ec- 
clesiastical court during the present or the last 
three reigns, or who should celebrate or hear others 
celebrate any private Mass — that is, in one word, to 
the whole Catholic population of the realm. The 
penalties for refusal were those of confiscation of 
property and imprisonment for the first offence, and 
the death of a traitor for the second. Some excep- 
tions were indeed made, but they did not regard the 
mass of the Catholic population." t In this oath 

* Archbishop Spalding, " History of the Reformation," II. 172. 
f Ibid. p. 187. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 177 

every one was required to swear that "the queen's 
highness is the only supreme governor of the realm, 
and of all other her highness' dominions and coun- 
tries, as well in all spiritual and ecclesiastical 
things or causes as temporal." "When the Parlia- 
ment was over," says Burnet, "the oath of supre- 
macy was soon after put to the bishops and clergy. 
They thought if they could stick close to one another 
in refusing it, the queen would be forced to dispense 
them, and would not at one stroke turn out all the 
bishops in England. The oath was tendered to them 
in July, when Heath, Archbishop of York ; Bonner, 
of London ; Thirleby, of Ely ; Bourn, of Bath and 
Wells ; Bain, of Litchfield ; White, of Winchester ; 
Watson, of Lincoln ; Oglethorpe, of Carlisle ; Tur- 
berville, of Exeter ; Pool, of Peterborough ; Scot, 
of Chester ; Pates, of Worcester ; and Goldwell, of 
St. Asaph, did all refuse to take it, so that only 
Kitchen, Bishop of Landaff, took it. They were, up- 
on their refusal, put in prison for a little while ; but 
they all had their liberty soon after, except Bonner, 
White, and Watson."* All the bishops, therefore, 
with one exception, were by the supreme head eject- 
ed from their sees, and, there being no episcopacy 
provided for the established religion, the queen 



Burnet, II. 612. 



178 



Third Lecture. 



availed herself of lier supremacy to constitute one, 
To this end she ordered the consecration of Matthew 
Parker as the beginning of her new episcopacy, and 
from him all the bishops of the Anglican communion 
descend. Having * before examined, at some length, 
the whole question of the ordination of Archbishop 
Parker, we will only state here that the Catholic 
Church, in union with every body retaining the 
apostolic succession, has always considered his 
orders as null and of no value. There is no evi- 
dence that William Barlow, the consecrator, was 
ever ordained ; and even if this could be proved, 
which is impossible, the form used in the ceremony 
was utterly defective and inadequate. Except by a 
portion of the English Church, they have never been 
considered as bishops, but ministers of a state es- 
tablishment, holding their power and jurisdiction 
from the crown. This was the suitable end to a 
long course of oppression, when Elizabeth's Church 
appeared in its true colors, bereft of holy orders 
and sacramental grace, the creature of the crown 
from which it sprang. We quote now the words of 
Macaulay : " The queen was entrusted with the 
office of restraining and punishing heresy and every 
sort of ecclesiastical abuse, and was permitted to de- 

* " Lectures on the Reformation," 1879, pp. 125-135. 



The A xg lic ax The get of the Church. 179 



legate her authority to commissioners. The bishops 
were little more than Tier 'ministers. Rather than 
grant to the civil magistrate alone the absolute 
power of nominating* spiritual pastors, the Church 
of Rome, in the eleventh century, set all Europe on 
fire. Rather than yield this point, in our own time 
the ministers of the Church of Scotland resigned their 
livings by the hundreds. The Church of England 
had no such scruples. By the royal authority alone 
her prelates were appointed. By the royal authority 
alone her Convocations were summoned, regulated, 
prorogued, and dissolved. Without the royal sanc- 
tion her canons had no force. One of the Articles of 
her faith was, that without the royal -consent no ec- 
clesiastical council could lawfully assemble. From 
all her judicatures an appeal lay. in the Inst resort, 
to the sovereign, even when the question was whether 
an opinion ought to be accounted heretical, or whether 
the administration of a sacrament had been valid. 
ISTor did the Church grudge this extensive power to 
our princes. By them slie 7iad been called into ex- 
istence ; nursed through a feeble infancy ; guarded 
from Papists on one side and from Puritans on the 
other ; protected against Parliaments which bore 
her no good-will, and avenged on literary assailants 
whom she found it hard to answer. Thus gratitude, 
hope, fear, common attachments, common enmities 



180 



Third Lecture. 



bound her to the throne. All her traditions, all her 
tastes were monarchical." * 

We also add a few words from Froude, who is in 
this regard a disinterested spectator: " The Angli- 
can hierarchy, far unlike its rival, was a child of con- 
vulsion and compromise; it drew its life from Eliza- 
beth's throne, and had Elizabeth fallen it would have 
crumbled into sand. The Church of England was as 
a limb lopped off from the Catholic trunk ; it was cut 
away from the stream by which its vascular system 
had been fed, and the life of it as an independent and 
corporate existence was gone for ever. But it had 
been taken up and grafted on the state. If not what 
it had been, it could retain the form of what it had 
been." "The position of bishops in the Church of 
England has been from the first anomalous ." ' ' They 
were tempted to presume on their phantom dignity, 
but the sword of a second Cromwell taught them the 
true value of their apostolic descent ; and we have a 
right to regret that the original theory of Cranmer 
was departed from ; that, being officers of the crown, 
as much appointed by the sovereign as the lord-chan- 
cellor, the bishops should not have worn openly 
their real character, and received their appointments 
by letters-patent without further ceremony." "No 



* Macaulay, " History of England," I. 62. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 181 

national object was secured by the transparent fiction 
of the election and consecration. The invocation of 
the Holy Spirit either meant nothing, and was a 
taking of the sacred names in vain, or it implied that 
the Third Person of the Trinity was, as a matter of 
course, to register the already-declared decision of 
the English sovereign." * 

It is sad to see children ashamed of their parents, 
or in unfilial scorn denying the authors of their ex- 
istence. But the world is logical in the end, and the 
testimonies of disinterested persons are likely to tell 
the truth. No Catholic has ever said more severe 
words of the Anglican establishment than the writers 
who have looked at its peculiarities with impartial 
eyes. 

Before we leave this branch of our subject we de- 
sire to glance at the principal personages who were 
used by the crown in the work of founding this state 
church, and who may be called its godfathers. We 
shall quote a few words from Protestant authorities. 

Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, was 
the principal tool in the hands of Henry VIII., and 
then the master of Edward VI. The Keformation 
owes everything to him under the king's grace. 

Canon Dixon thus writes of him: "The log rises 



* Fronde, " History of England," VII. pp. 178-9 ; XII. 577-579. 



182 



Third Lecture. 



to the surface, rides the waters, and enables us to 
judge of the current ; but the waters carry the log. 
The poor optimist who at this time entered on his 
troubled career was a memorable mixture of strength 
and weakness." "Cranmerhad a greater capacity 
than either Henry or Cromwell ; he had much of the 
dispassionate quality of the statesman, but withal an 
indecision and want of readiness which laid him at 
the mercy of inferior men, and often produced du- 
plicity in his conduct. His large, timorous, and un- 
wieldy nature was needful to the men of craft and 
violence who now held in their hands the destinies 
of the country and the Church. He became their 
scribe, their tool, their voice. It is the misfortune of 
a nation when such a character is discovered and so 
used. Such a character may rise into offices and dig- 
nities which were created for one purpose, and may 
turn them to another. Such a character may com- 
mit the deepest treason with a clear conscience. 
Under the cover of the reputation of such a charac- 
ter, the vilest and most unscrupulous may eat their 
way into institutions which would have defied their 
open approach, and may find their worst deeds 
consecrated in the eyes of posterity. The virtues 
and the reputation of Cranmer must not blind our 
eyes to the tragedy which was enacted under his pri- 
macy, nor cause us to forget that he was the slave 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 183 

first of Henry and Cromwell, afterwards of Somerset, 
Paget, and Northumberland ; that under him the 
Church of England fell from wealth into poverty ; 
that he offered no resistance to the enormous sacri- 
lege of this and the following reign, from which, in- 
deed, his own hands were not altogether clean ; and 
that nothing was more convenient to the spoilers of 
the Church than that he should have been the high- 
est of her bishops. In doctrine he ran from one po- 
sition to another with the whole rabble of innovators 
at his heels, until at last he seemed ready to surren- 
der the Catholicity of the Church to the Sacramen- 
tarians." * 

The Rev. F. G. Lee, vicar of All- Saints'; Lambeth, 
thus estimates Cranmer: "In the chair of St. Au- 
gustine and St. Thomas sat a perjurer, a married 
prelate, who had first wedded a barmaid, and sub- 
sequently taken to himself a second wife, the niece 
of Osiander, a German heretic." " Another novelty, 
of which the people of Lambeth, Canterbury, and 
Croydon from time to time heard singular rumors, 
and concerning which the profane or witty often 
made merry, was that the new archbishop, having 
married a servant at Cambridge, who had died in 
giving birth to still-born twins, had also secretly 



* Dixon's " History of the Church of England," I. 154-156. 



184 



Third Lecture. 



wedded a second wife, who in disguise, and unable 
to speak English, was passively carried about, with 
his grace's temporal goods and chattels, between 
the various archiepiscopal residences. With such a 
leader as Cranmer, therefore, the record of whose 
loathsome Erastianism, when read three centuries 
and a half after his death at Oxford, leaves an un- 
savory flavor in the churchman s mouth, what 
could the rank and file of the clergy attempt ?" "It 
is impossible not to note the glaring iniquity of 
Cranmer, and the inherent wickedness of these so- 
called spiritual proceedings. Two years previously 
this pliant archbishop, after having solemnly in- 
voked the aid and co-operation of God the Holy 
Ghost, with the Gospel and the fear of God before 
his eyes, had, in his official capacity as primate of 
all England, pronounced the marriage between Henry 
and Catherine null and void, and had formally en- 
joined Dr. Rowland Lee to bestow the nuptial bene- 
diction of Holy Church upon Heniy the king and 
Anne, his mistress. Now, by a change of circum- 
stances, he was called upon by formal process to 
transform the king's laioful wife into a concubine. 
To do him justice, however, he was ready and com- 
petent for the work." ' 'Thus we see that on the 
15th of Ma}^, 1536, Anne Boleyn was condemned as 
the laioful wife of the king; on the 17th of the 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 185 

same month she is declared never to have been Ms 
wife at all, and two days afterwards, on the 19th, 
she is actually executed for having been Ms unfaith- 
ful wifeP " Had the divorce been pronounced by 
Cranmer before Anne Boleyn's condemnation, she 
could never have been tried and condemned for 
adultery." * 

Macaulay thus writes: "The man who took the 
chief part in settling the conditions of the alliance 
which produced the Anglican Church was Archbi- 
shop Cranmer. He was the representative of both 
the parties, which, at that time, needed each other' s 
assistance. He was at once a divine and a courtier. 
In his character of divine he was perfectly ready 
to go as far in the way of change as any Swiss Re- 
former. In his character of courtier he was desi- 
rous to preserve that organization which had, dur- 
ing many ages, admirably served the purposes of 
the Bishops of Rome, and might be expected to serve 
equally well the purposes of the English kings and 
of their ministers. Saintly in his professions, un- 
scrupulous in his dealings, zealous for nothing, 
bold in speculation, a coward and a time-server in 
action, a placable enemy and a lukewarm friend, 
he was in every way qualified to arrange the terms 

* Lee, < ' Historical Sketches of the Reformation," pp. 62-65, 89, 
225. 



186 



Third Lecture. 



of the coalition between the religious and the world- 
ly enemies of popery." * 

We have stronger words from the Rev. Dr. Lit 
tledale : "It has always, since I learned the truth 
about Cranmer, been a marvel to me how any one 
with a sense of religion, of honor, of manly feeling, 
can look on him with any sentiments save those of 
disgust and indignation. I have ever held that 
courage in a man ranks with purity in a woman ; 
and, tested by any such comparison, Cranmer must 
take his stand with Lais and Messalina— nay, with 
the shameless depravities which we associate with 
Faustina and Sappho. Every crime which tempted 
him he committed ; every crime which any one in 
power wished to commit he assisted or condoned. 
If Nathan, instead of denouncing David in the para- 
ble of the ewe lamb, had pronounced a sentence of 
divorce between Uriah and Bathsheba, and had 
countersigned the fatal missive to Joab ; if Elijah, 
instead of meeting Ahab with the message of divine 
vengeance at the entrance of Jezreel, had presided 
over the mock court which condemned INaboth, 
and had been rewarded for his subserviency by a 
rent-charge on the vineyard ; if Daniel had at once 
sacrificed his religion at the ukase of Darius ; if 

* Macaulay, " History of England," I. 57. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 187 

John Baptist had consented to perform the rite of 
marriage between Herod Antipas and Herodias, 
Philip's wife, how wonld we loathe their memories ! 
And yet each of them, had he stopped short there, 
would have been incomparably less guilty than 
Thomas Cranmer, whose whole life was a tissue of 
like acts." * 

But let us not forget Thomas Cromwell, the vicar- 
general of Henry VIII. "He was," says Dixon, 
"the son of a blacksmith of Putney. An aptness 
for the times has often stood in the stead of public 
virtue or of high ability ; and the unparalleled rise 
of Cromwell can only be regarded as the luck of a 
keen but low-minded political adventurer. In his 
youth he had been, as he said himself, a ruffian. 
Like many of the leaders of the Reformation, he 
had been fond of rambling about foreign countries 
instead of taking to some honest calling at home, 
and met with some remarkable adventures in his 
travels. He had been a trooper, a clerk, and a 
money-lender." "He is said to have read Machia- 
velli, and from that great writer to have imbibed 
the principles which a bad mind may easily extract. 
He held that vice and virtue are but names, fit to 
amuse the learned, but not to be esteemed by him 

* Lee, page 340. 



188 



Third Lecture. 



who would rise in the court of princes. The great 
art of the politician was, in his judgment, to pene- 
trate into the secret inclinations of sovereigns, and 
discover the means of gratifying them without ap- 
pearing to outrage decency and religion."* "Of 
his energy, vigor, and diplomatic skill," says Lee, 
' ' none can doubt. These, added to an utter want 
of high principle, and much rapacity and greed, 
secured what the world calls his success. On the 
other hand, his avarice and hypocrisy, together 
with his cringing servility to his tyrannical master, 
were dominated ever, and under all circumstances, 
by his utter contempt for everything just and hon- 
est." f 

William Barlow, noted as the consecrator of Arch- 
bishop Parker, was a religious who had broken his 
vow of chastity, and at the time of his reported or 
supposed consecration had a family of five daughters 
and one son. Of him Dixon says: "His employ- 
ment in Scotland, for which he had lately been se- 
lected along with the astute Sadler, was a sufficient 
testimonial of his general ability. In conduct some- 
what rapacious, in his writings scurrilous, he was so 
enlightened in his views as to maintain that the true 
Church of God might consist of two elected cobblers 



* Dixon's " History," I. 46, 47. 



f Lee, " Sketches, " p. 48. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 189 

in company, and that any layman, being learned, 
would be as good a bishop as himself or the best in 
England, without mention made of any orders. " * 

We will allow Mr. Froude*to say a word of Mat- 
thew Parker: "At his death he left behind him 
enormous wealth, which had been accumulated, as is 
proved from a statement in the handwriting of his 
successor, by the same unscrupulous practices which 
had brought about the first revolt against the 
Church. He had been corrupt in the distribution of 
his own patronage, and he had sold his interest with 
others. Every year he made profits by admitting 
children to the cure of souls for money. He used a 
graduated scale in which the price for inducting an 
infant into a benefice varied with the age, children 
under fourteen not being inadmissible if the ade- 
quate fees were forthcoming." f 

Of Elizabeth herself G-uizot says : " She tarnished 
the biilliancy of her reign, and for ever sullied her 
glory, by feminine follies and evil passions, while 
obstinately refusing to accept the duties and enjoy 
the legitimate happiness of a woman's life." "She 
oppressed the Catholics, and their number, which at 
her accession perhaps equalled that of the Protes- 
tants, rapidly diminished under the measures which 

* Dixon, I. 522. \ Froude, ' « History of England, XI 100. 



190 



Third Lecture* 



she applied to them. Men who can neither prac- 
tise the rites of their religion nor quit the king- 
dom, who cannot leave their homes without authori- 
zation, who are incessantly exposed to acts of injus- 
tice, not to mention the terrible risk of an accusation 
of treason, abandon their faith if they are weak, 
or take refuge in exile if they are energetic and zeal- 
ous. Upon this destruction of the liberty of her 
Catholic subjects Elizabeth firmly established the 
Anglican Church." * 

"In her temper," says Lingard, "Elizabeth seemed 
to have inherited the irritability of her father. The 
least inattention, the slightest provocation, would 
throw her into a passion. At all times her dis- 
course was sprinkled with oaths ; in the sallies of 
her anger it abounded with imprecations and abuse. 
Nor did she content herself with words : not only 
the ladies about her person, but her courtiers and 
the highest officers of the state, felt the weight of her 
hands. 

"To her first Parliament she had expressed a wish 
that on her tomb might be inscribed the title of the 
virgin queen: But the woman who despises the 
safeguards, must be content to forfeit the reputation 
of chastity. She showed that she was regardless of 

* Guizot, " History of England,'*' II. 356, 357. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 191 

her character and callous to every sense of shame. 
Dudley, though the most favored, was uot consider- 
ed her only lover ; among his rivals were numbered 
Hatton and Raleigh, and Oxford and Blount, Simier 
and Anjou ; and it was afterwards believed that her 
licentious habits survived, even when the fires of 
wantonness had been quenched by the chill of age. 
The court imitated the manners of the sovereign. 
It was a place in which, according to Faunt, all enor- 
mities reigned in the highest degree, or, according to 
Harrington, where there was no love but that of the 
lusty god of gallantry, Asmodeus." * 

Surely the child was worthy of the stock from 
whence she sprung. 

II. 

The Peculiarities of the Anglican System. 

There are three peculiarities which distinguish, 
even among Protestants, the Church of England. 
They come from its origin, have adhered to it dur- 
ing all its past, and will probably distinguish it as 
long as it may exist. 

They are its character as an establishment of the 
state, its twofold aspect as of a compromise between 



* Lingard's " History of England,"' VIII. 424, 425. 



192 Third Lecture. 

the Church and Protestantism, and its insincerity in 
the maintenance of doctrine. For the exhibition of 
these peculiarities, which have never appeared to- 
gether in any other community, we shall take the 
testimony of non- Catholic writers who are compe- 
tent witnesses. 

1. No one will be disposed to deny that the 
Church of England is an establishment of the state. 
It began with the royal supremacy, and has been 
sustained by the force of civil law. It is wholly 
the creatnre of the state, which keeps it in power 
for its own ends. There have been unions between 
the Church and the state, by which the temporal 
government has recognized the spiritual, and honor- 
ed its power in its own domain. In England, as 
we have seen, the crown usurped the prerogatives 
of the vicar of Christ, and made itself the fount of 
all ecclesiastical jurisdiction. It is, therefore, to the 
crown that the Anglican Church owes everything, 
and thus becomes the creature of the state, power- 
less to act for doctrine or discipline, save by the 
command or allowance of its civil master or ruler. 

We quote from Lee's "Historical Sketches of 
the Reformation" : "The extravagant and wicked 
lengths to which the innovators went, making changes 
and introducing new principles, still in active force, 
may be gathered from the fact that Henry VIII., 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 193 



as supreme head of the Church, granted faculties 
to Bonner, Bishop of London, to enable him to 
perform certain episcopal functions, which may be 
seen at length in Burnet's ' History of the Reforma- 
tion' (Vol. IV. p. 410). The king sets out with the 
assertion that the royal jurisdiction is the source of 
the ecclesiastical ; and then remarks that, as Crom- 
well, his vicar-general, has so much to do, he ap- 
points Bonner in addition. This same doctrine is 
taught in the 'Reformatio Legum.' The king's son, 
Edward VI., exercising the same office of spiritual 
head, granted to Cranmer at that person's special pe- 
tition and request, faculties to hold ordinations (Wil- 
kins's ' Concilia,' Vol. IV. 2). The same practice has 
been current in some form ever since, and it is the 
keystone of the Establishment. The oath of homage 
which the bishops still take on their knees before the 
sovereign, asserts that all spiritual and temporal au- 
thority and jurisdiction — a very wide and large as- 
sertion, covering so much — comes from the monarch. 
Again, when a bishop was first sent to India it was 
enacted by Parliament (53 George III., chapter 155, 
§ 53) that such bishop shall not have or use any ju- 
risdiction, or exercise any episcopal functions what- 
soever, but only such jurisdiction and functions as 
shall or may from time to time be limited to him by 
his majesty by letters-patent under the great seal 



194 



Third Lecture. 



of the United Kingdom. And King William IV., in 
his letters-patent appointing the first bishop of Aus- 
tralia, gives to him and his successors, bishops of 
Australia, full power and authority to admit into the 
holy orders of deacon and priest. A recent writer, 
the Rev. J. H. Blunt, holds that ; the courage of the 
clergy in Convocation under Henry VIII. secured, 
under God's providence, the future freedom of the 
Church' ; but those who use the term freedom in its 
ordinary sense, and remember the course of ecclesi- 
astical legislation from the days of Thomas Crom- 
well to the time of Lord Penzance, will scarcely agree 
with him. The national Church is as much subject 
to the crown as is the Board of Trade or the Ad- 
miralty." * 

The same author also quotes the following lan- 
guage from the Rev. T. W. Mossman's "Freedom 
for the Church of God" : "The assertion of the 
Church's rights can only, I feel persuaded, be car- 
ried into the sphere of action through much tribula- 
tion. As, when the idol of royal supremacy was first 
set up, its inauguration was celebrated by the blood 
of martyrs and confessors ; so now what was then a 
Moloch, but has now, through the mercy of God, lost 
its sanguinary character, can only be displaced from 



* Lee, pp. 108, 109. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 195 

its shrine here in England with the loss of the 
Church's endowments." "The royal supremacy 
over the Church of England has been called, I think, 
by some one, the brightest jewel in the English 
crown. And so, perchance, it may be ; but it is a 
jewel which has been stolen from the crown of the 
Incarnate Son of God. In God's name, then, let us 
replace it where only it has a right to be. On any 
other brow, in any other diadem than that of Christ 
it shines with an ominous gleam, which is a sign of 
wrath and vengeance against all who have taken part 
or are implicated in the robbery which transferred it 
from Him to those with whom it ought not to be." * 

The old enactments relating to the royal supre- 
macy are as follows : 

"Whereas, the royal majesty is justly supreme 
head on earth of the Church of England, and hath 
full authority to correct and punish all manner of 
schisms, errors, vices, and to exercise all other man- 
ner of jurisdiction, commonly called ecclesiastical; 
. . . but the archbishop and the bishops have no 
manner of jurisdiction ecclesiastical but by, under, 
and from the royal majesty" (37 Henry Y III., cap. 
17). 

"All authority of jurisdiction, spiritual and tem- 



* Lee, " Sketches," p. 411. 



196 



Third Lecture. 



poral, is derived from the king's majesty, as supreme 
head of these churches and realms of England and 
Ireland; and so justly acknowledged by the clergy 
of the said realms, and that all courts ecclesiastical 
within the said two realms be kept by no other 
power nor authority, either foreign or within the 
realm, but by the authority of his most excellent 
majesty" * (1 Edward VI., cap. 2). 

' 'The laws from the time of the three Tudors, 
Henry, Edward, and Elizabeth," says Dr. Dollinger, 
"declare the supremacy over the Church to be an 
inalienable prerogative of the crown. These statutes 
still exist in full force. The king or the reigning 
queen is in possession of the ecclesiastical power, 
and that of the bishops is only an emanation of the 
royal authority." "A ministerial daily paper, the 
Globe, published a few years ago a declaration upon 
the nature and position of the national Church, 
which even Bishop Wilberf orce, of Oxford, publicly 
adduced as the expression of the views of the gov- 
ernment. 'The state Church by law established,' it 
is stated, ' is in fact a creation of this world ; it is a 
machine for the employment of the spiritual element 
in the variable public opinion of the day. Its gov- 
ernment is managed by the prime minister ; its cha- 



* Lee, pp. 411, 412.' 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 197 

racteristics are passive immobility, persevering si- 
lence, an absolute nullity in its censures ; and the 
thousands of its declared adherents laugh aloud 
whenever its ministers overstep their humble sphere 
as officers of a national institution. All these things 
are signs and tokens of a servitude which the lowest 
sect of Jumpers would not subject itself to, but 
which, in our department of public worship, is both 
natural and appropriate.'" "To the question 
whether a clergyman was bound to solemnize the 
marriage of a couple separated by a divorce, the 
attorney -general declared that it was the duty of a 
clergyman to do whatever the state ordered him. 
This the Bishop of Oxford found rather too hard. It 
gave the idea of a thoroughly degraded, demoralized, 
and, for religion, an impotent Church. At the same 
time, if we accept what the English Constitution says 
of the supremacy of the state, it is impossible to ar- 
rive, logically and juridically, at a different conclu- 
sion from that of the attorney -general. If the Eng- 
lish clergy find this position dishonorable, it does 
but remind one of the fable of the watch-dog who, 
in return for the comforts of life and the caresses 
of his master, had to allow himself to be chained." 
"One of the Articles of faith declares, indeed, that 
the Church has authority in matters of faith, but no 
one is able to say what and where this Church is. 



198 



Third Lecture. 



It cannot be the English state Church, for this has no 
organ, and since the Reformation has never had one, 
unless it be the political supremacy of the prime- 
minister for the time being, and his privy council of 
laymen." "For the more serious Anglo-Catholics 
or Tractarians the yoke of the state supremacy may 
in truth be named one of iron. All the powers are 
against them. Every attempt to introduce or reani- 
mate an old-church element in the Establishment 
has been frustrated by the resistance of the govern- 
ment, the bishops, and the people. The3 r have been 
defeated in the struggle with theological rationalism 
in the Hampden controversy ; they have suffered in 
the Gorham dispute a twofold defeat — first, that the 
question has been decided according to the opinion and 
in favor of the Calvinists ; and, secondly, that lay 
officials, acting in the name of the queen, have been 
recognized by almost the whole clergy, and of course 
by the people, as the highest tribunal, indeed the 
only organ, of the otherwise completely dumb Eng- 
lish Church — an event to which there can be found 
no parallel in the history of the Church previous to 
1517. 5 ' "However bitter it may be, every member of 
the Church must adopt the view of the Evangelicals, 
that in England the Church is no more than a re- 
ligious club, which the civil power superintends, takes 
charge of, and keeps in order — the same civil power 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 199 

which in England supports the Episcopal Church, 
and by which in Scotland and Ulster Presbyterians, 
in India Brahminism, in Ceylon Buddhism, are paid 
and supported. In fact, if the validity of Church 
principles is to be really asserted, the Church stand- 
ard must be applied, and the Establishment declared 
to be an institution infected through and through 
with heretical principle, corrupt to the very core, 
and the Eras danism of which makes every attempt 
at care almost hopeless. At every step the lay su- 
premacy comes in the way." * 

Article XXI. of the English Church declares 
that "general councils may not be gathered to- 
gether without the will and commandment of prin- 
ces." Article XXXVII. asserts that "the queen's 
majesty has the chief power in this realm of Eng- 
land and her other dominions, unto whom the chief 
government of all estates, ecclesiastical or tem- 
poral, in all causes doth pertain, and is not nor 
ought to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction." 

The Homilies commended by the Articles of 
faith tell us that "our Saviour Christ and St. 
Peter teach most earnestly and agreeably obedi- 
ence to kings as to the chief and supreme rulers in 
this world next under God." " St. Peter saith, Sub- 



* "The Church and the Churches;' by Dr. Dollinger, pp. 155-169. 



200 



Third Lecture. 



mit yourselves unto your king, your supreme 7iead, 
and unto those whom he appointeth in authority 
under him ; he doth not say, Submit yourselves 
unto me as supreme head of the Church." * "No- 
thing," says Macaulay, " so strongly distinguished 
the Church of England from other churches as the 
relation in which she stood to the monarchy. The 
king was her head. The limits of the authority 
which he possessed as such were not traced, and, 
indeed, have never yet been traced with precision." f 
It is hardly necessary to add further testimony. 
The Anglican Church, as such, has no liberty to act 
in matters of discipline or doctrine. Its bishops are 
part of the Parliament, but their ecclesiastical cha- 
racter is lost in their civil capacity as the appointed 
ministers of the crown. Their influence is wholly 
personal, and the Church, properly speaking, has no 
powers to act. The Protestant Episcopal Church in 
this country, which springs from the Anglican com- 
munion, is free from the royal supremacy, and can 
act independently. But for a sect, a wholly human 
organization, there is some advantage in being an es- 
tablishment of the state. It borrows dignity from 
the temporal power, and is forced to an appearance 
of consistency. When the robes of state are torn 

* Homilies, Sermon on Obedience, 
f " History of England," vol. I. p. 59. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 201 

away the schism appears more jDlainly in its natural 
nakedness, with all its tendency to disintegration 
and decay. The state has made the English Chnrch 
what it is, a poor counterfeit, indeed, of the spouse 
of Christ, but still a living thing with a distinct cha- 
racter. It would be hard to tell what is the chief en- 
dowment of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 

2. The Establishment of England is peculiar among 
all ecclesiastical bodies in being a compromise be- 
tween the Catholic Church and Protestantism. It 
has many sides, but two distinct faces, and embraces 
within its fold the most complete contradictions. 
This has, indeed, happened to other Protestant com- 
munities, but the Church of England was apparently 
framed with this very end in view, to hold together 
the most opposite materials. "To this day," says 
Macaulay, ' ' the constitution, the doctrines, and the 
services of the English Church retain the visible 
marks of the compromise from which she sprang. 
She occupies a middle position between the churches 
of Rome and Geneva. Her doctrinal confessions 
and discourses, composed by Protestants, set forth 
princix>les of theology in which Calvin or Knox 
would have found scarcely a word to disapprove. 
Her prayers and thanksgivings, derived from the an- 
cient breviaries, are very generally such that Car- 
dinal Fisher or Cardinal Pole might have heartily 



202 



Third Lecture. 



joined in them. A controversialist who puts an Ar- 
minian sense on her Articles and Homilies will be 
pronounced by candid men to be as unreasonable as 
one who denies that the doctrine of baptismal re- 
generation can be discovered in her liturgy. The 
Church of Rome held that episcopacy was of divine 
institution, and that certain supernatural graces of a 
high order had been transmitted by the imposition 
of hands, through fifty generations, from the eleven 
who received their commission on the Galilean 
mount to the bishops who met at Trent. A large 
body of Protestants, on the other hand, regarded 
prelacy as positively unlawful, and persuaded them- 
selves that they found a very different form of ec- 
clesiastical government prescribed in the Scripture. 
The founders of the Anglican Church took a middle 
course. They retained episcopacy, but they did not 
declare it to be an institution essential to the welfare 
of a Christian society or to the efficacy of the sacra- 
ments. Cranmer, indeed, on one occasion avowed 
his conviction that in the primitive times there was 
no distinction between bishops and priests, and that 
the laying on of hands was altogether superfluous." 
" In every part of her system the same policy may 
be traced. Utterly rejecting the doctrine of transub- 
stantiation, and condemning as idolatrous all adora- 
tion paid to the sacramental bread and wine, she 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 203 

yet, to the disgust of the Puritan, required her chil- 
dren to receive the memorials of divine love meekly 
kneeling upon their knees." "In general it may be 
said that she appeals more to the understanding 
and less to the imagination than the Church of 
Rome, and more to the senses and imagination and 
less to the understanding than the Protestant 
churches of Scotland, France, and Switzerland." * 
We now quote the words of Dr. Dollinger : "As a 
third chief form of Protestantism, and with a com- 
plete national coloring and exclusiveness, the Epis- 
copal state Church in England instituted itself. 
Wholly differing from Lutheranism, it was at the 
beginning, in its dogma, sirperabouncling with Cal- 
vinism. It is in its constitution a mixture of Catho- 
licity and Protestantism ; it is territorially Protes- 
tant, or imperially papistical in its principles and in- 
stitutions ; it is in its liturgy more Catholic than 
Protestant, and in its creed, the Thirty-nine Articles, 
more Protestant than Catholic. It suffers from its 
internal contradictions, and resembles a building 
which, erected out of heterogeneous materials, can 
only be prevented from falling to pieces by the 
strong hand of the state." "Lord Chatham said 
in his time that the English Church had Calvinis- 

* Macaulay, "History of England," I. 57-59. 



204 



Third Lecture. 



tic Articles, a papistical service, and an Arminian 
clergy. This saying has become a general opinion, 
but the designation of the dogmatic sentiments of 
the clergy is only now in so far correct that the great 
majority of the clergy agree with the Arminians in 
rejecting the favorite doctrines of the Reformation, 
'justification by imputed righteousness,' and 'Cal- 
vinistic predestination.' The fact, however, that the 
Established Church has not so much as the semblance 
of unity of doctrine and character is well known to 
every educated Englishman, and appears as some- 
thing quite natural and as a matter of course. In 
questions of doctrine very little confidence is placed 
in clergymen of this Church when it is seen that, with 
the most contradictory views, they are able to accom- 
modate themselves to the same formularies." * 

The following is an extract from the London 
Times : "It ought to be considered that this Church 
to which the Parliament had given its present form 
possesses every attribute, every advantage, and eve- 
ry disadvantage of a compromise. Her Articles and 
authorized formularies are so drawn as to admit with- 
in her pale persons differing as widely as it is pos- 
sible for the professors of the Christian religion 
to differ from each other. Unity was neither sought 

* Dollinger, " The Church and the Churches," pp. 30, 169. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 205 



nor obtained ; but comprehension was aimed at and 
accomplished. Therefore we have within the Church 
of England persons not differing merely in their 
particular tenets, but in the rule and ground of their 
belief ; the one party seeking religion in the Bible 
with the aid of the Spirit, the other in the Church 
by the means of tradition. The same power of 
freely meeting and deliberating, of discussing and 
altering, which is essential to the existence of a 
voluntary Church, is destructive to a compromise 
entered into and carried on under the sanction and 
authority of the state.'- * As regards the Articles of 
the Church of England, which are its only peculiar 
confession of faith, there is no doubt that they 
were framed under the inspiration of the Continental 
Reformers. The G-erman embassy, according to Dix- 
on, met a commission of three bishops and four 
doctors. " The two parties went through the Augs- 
burg Confession, or at least the first part of it, on 
the basis of which they endeavored to form a com- 
prehensive code of Articles for the use of the Church 
of England. Their labors, which occupied the sum- 
mer months, were shared by the supreme head." 
"To their visit may be traced the Lutheran, the 
Augustan complexion of a considerable part of the 



* Times, August 5, 18" 2. 



206 



Third Lecture. 



present Articles of the Cliurch of England." * It 
is hardly necessary to pursue further this subject. 
Any one who knows anything of the Anglican com- 
munion knows that it embraces within its pale the 
most contradictory opinions. Its members range 
from the Latitudinarian to the Evangelical, to the 
Broad-Churchmen, to High-Churchmen, to the Rit- 
ualist. There is nothing in common between them, 
save that they call themselves the members of the 
same Cliurch. Sometimes they are a happy fam- 
ily, living in unity, because, as in their conven- 
tions, they generally agree to exclude the discus- 
sion of doctrines ; sometimes they attack each 
other with the violence w : hich is hardly seemly 
among communicants at the same table. Among the 
whole circle of Protestant sects there is not greater 
divergence in questions of faith than can be found 
in the one Church generally called the Anglican. 
Surely, amid peculiarities strange and surprising, 
this is a remarkable peculiarity. 

3. Insincerity in the maintenance of doctrine is 
another distinguishing mark of the Anglican Church. 
We cannot hope to find consistency where every 
man is his own guide, and therefore liable at any 
time to change his opinions. Yet there is in the 



* Dixon, "History of the Church of England," II. 2, 3, 5. 



The Ay g lic ax The oft of the Church. 



207 



Church, of England an indifference to doctrine which 
is more than remarkable. It is shown in the tole- 
ration of directly conflicting dogmas, and in the 
popular disregard of any authoritative decisions. 
The Church, as we have seen, wears two faces, and 
this insincerity is communicated to her children. 
Her founders have entailed this heritage upon the 
spiritual progeny which they engendered. Cranmer, 
as we know, took a solemn oath to pay loyal obe- 
dience to the pope as vicar of Christ. This oath he 
did not mean to keep for one moment. Elizabeth 
also swore to maintain the Catholic religion at her 
coronation. Cranmer wore the insignia and per- 
formed the acts of a bishop. Still, he held that the 
bishops were the ministers of the crown, for whom 
no ordination was necessary. "The bishops were 
ingrate," said he ; "it was necessary to make them 
acknowledge the author, spring, and fountain of 
their power. The bishops were not. perhaps, im- 
pudent enough to say that their jurisdiction rested 
on the law of God ; but if they said so let them 
bring forth Scripture. If they said that it rested on 
the Bishop of Rome, let them exercise it, if they 
thought well. If. however, they acknowledged that 
it came from the king, why were they discontent 
that the king had resumed what he had given?" * 

* Dixon, " History of the Church of England," I. 306. 



208 



Third Lecture. 



He continued to celebrate Mass, and still lie held 
that "the Mass was full of errors and abuses, being 
contrary to the practice oi the apostles and the 
ancient Church for many ages." * -He held constant 
communion with the Continental Reformers, whose 
inspiration in many things was his guide. "In the 
reign of Edward VI. he corresponded with, and 
cheerfully owned the foreign Reformed divines as 
brethren and fellow-laboi 'ers in the Gospel. Eliza- 
beth's bishops followed his example. In the year 
1582 Archbishop Grindal, by a formal deed, de- 
clared the validity of the orders of Mr. John Morri- 
son, who had been ordained by the Synod of 
Lothian according to the laudable form and rite of 
the Church of Scotland (Strype's 'Life of Grin- 
dal,' appendix). Whittingham, Dean of Durham, 
was ordained in the English Church of Geneva, 
of which Knox was pastor ; and Traverse, the 
opponent of Hooker, was ordained by a presbytery 
at Antwerp." f 

William Barlow is distinguished as the father of 
the Anglican succession of bishops. His opinions 
were that "laymen had otherwhiles made priests, 
and might make them in case of necessity. Con- 
secration is requisite, said most ; no consecration 

* Burnet, II. 386. f McCrie, ''Life of John Knox," pp. 42 3. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 209 

is requisite, said Doctor Cox, but ouly appointing 
to the office of priest with imposition of hands. But 
Barlow went furthest, who said that appointing 
was alone sufficient. In such a case of extreme 
necessity as that no priest could be had from any 
neighboring country, nearly all said that, though 
such a case were hard to find, the prince or other 
learned layman might constitute priests." * Both of 
these worthy prelates had taken vows of chastity, 
and both were living in open concubinage. Cranmer 
at his consecration not only swore his loyalty to 
the See of Rome, but he promised on the Holy 
Sacrament .to keep chastity. Yet he was twice 
married, and Archdeacon Harpsfield says that u he 
kept his woman very close, and sometimes carried 
her about with him in a great chest. "f Says Mac- 
aulay : " The English Reformers were eager to go 
as far as their brethren on the Continent. They 
unanimously condemned as anti-Christian numerous 
dogmas and practices to which Henry had stub- 
bornly adhered, and which Elizabeth reluctantly 
abandoned. Many felt a strong repugnance even to 
things indifferent which had formed part of the 
polity or ritual of the mystical Babylon. Thus, 
Bishop Hooper, who died manfully at Gloucester 

* Dixon, I. 309. 

f "Treatise of Marriage," by Archdeacon Harpsfield, Lib, III. p. 98. 



210 



Third Lecture. 



for his religion, long refused to wear the episcopal 
vestments. Bishop Ridley, a martyr of still great- 
er renown, pulled down the ancient altars of his 
diocese, and ordered the Eucharist to be adminis- 
tered in the middle of churches, at tables which the 
papists irreverently termed oyster-boards. Bishop 
Jewel pronounced the clerical garb to be a stage 
dress, a fool's coat, a relic of the Amorites, and pro- 
mised that he would spare no labor to extirpate 
such degrading absurdities. Archbisho]) Grindal 
long hesitated about accepting a mitre, from dislike 
of what he regarded as the mummery of consecration. 
Bishop Parkhurst uttered a fervent prayer that the 
Church of England would propose to herself the 
Church of Zurich as the absolute pattern of a Chris- 
tian community. Bishop Ponet was of opinion 
that the word bishop should be abandoned to the 
papists, and that the chief officers of the purified 
Church should be called superintendents. When it 
is considered that none of these prelates belonged to 
the extreme section of the Protestant party, it can- 
not be doubted that if the general sense of that party 
had been followed the work of reform would have 
been carried on as unsparingly in England as in Scot- 
land. But as the government needed the support of 
the Protestants, so the Protestants needed the protec- 
tion of the government. Much was therefore given 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 211 

up on both sides. A union was effected, and the fruit 
of that union was the Church of England."* Candid 
minds will wonder at the insincerity of those who 
conformed to anti- Christian rites and ceremonies, and 
made themselves one with a Church which has two 
doctrinal faces. We quote again from Dr. D61- 
linger: *'The inextricable contradiction between the 
Thirty-nine Articles, which are essentially Calvin- 
istic, and the strongly Catholicized liturgy, origin- 
ated in the circumstance of the age of the Reform- 
ation. The Articles were to be the dogmatic fetters 
binding the clergy to Calvinism, and were only laid 
before them for signature. But the liturgy, with 
its prayers and sacramental forms, was intended to 
prove to the people, who were still more Catholic 
than Protestant, and who had to be threatened with 
pecuniary fines before they would attend the ser- 
vice, that their religion had not been essentially 
altered, and - that the old Catholic Church still 
really existed." u The English Church has the 
germ of discord and ecclesiastical dissolution in its 
normal condition and its confessions of faith. It 
is a collection of heterogeneous theological propo- 
sitions tied together by the act of uniformity, but 
which in a logical mind cannot exist by the side of 

* Macaulay, "History of England," 1. 56. 



212 



Third Lecture. 



one another, and whose effect upon the English 
Churchman is that he finds himself involved in con- 
tinual contradictions and dis ingenuousness, and can 
only escape the painful consciousness by sophistical 
reasoning. Each of the two great parties in the 
Church cast on each other an aspersion of hypocrisy 
and disingenuousness with equal right ; for the one 
cannot sign the Calvinistic articles with inward con- 
viction, and the others can only accept the liturgy, 
to which they have an antipathy, for the sake of 
the benefices they receive, and are obliged to wrest 
the meaning of liturgical forms in the most evident 
manner." "The Anglican or High-Church school 
has never, even in its most flourishing time, pro- 
duced a systematic and comprehensive theology. 
They furnish nothing more than essays or fragments, 
and it is very characteristic that the whole Anglican 
Church has not a single system or hand-book of 
doctrine to show. This Church, as the excellent 
Alexander Knox has complained, is wanting in all 
settled dogmatic principles. A theological system, 
a dogmatic divinity, presupposes a knowledge of 
what the Church really teaches ; but in England no 
one knows that, or can know it, not even the prime 
minister and bis Privj^ Council. If, for example, 
a hand-book of Anglican theology had been issued 
before the decision of the Gorham controversy, it 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 213 

must have been, after that decision, entirely remodel- 
led, since the principle thereby disavowed, and the 
one thereby established, govern the entire organism 
of doctrine ; for the question that was answered in 
the negative by the celebrated decision of the Privy 
Council was whether the dogma of the sacramental 
effect of baptism was a doctrine of the Anglican 
Church. The view of the Evangelicals, according to 
which baptism is a mere rite of consecration, has 
hereby obtained its franchise in the English Church, 
and that is, even according to the Lutheran theology, 
a heresy which alone would make every union of 
the Lutherans and Calvinists for ever impossible. It 
may be said of the English Church that it is like 
an Indian idol witli many heads (and every one with 
different views) but very few hands. Its want of 
freedom, its being bound to the Church wheels of 
the state, and dragged after it through thick and 
thin, acts so much the more injuriously as it affords 
to the feebleness, slothfulness, and indecision of 
the English clergy a welcome pretext for doing 
nothing." "If the whole Episcopal constitution 
were done away with (says HalMm, 'Cons. History,' 
II. 238), it would make no perceptible difference in 
the religion of the people. The Catholic idea, that 
the Church is the guardian of divine truth, the 
divinely-appointed teacher, is foreign to the Eng- 



214 



Third Lecture. 



lisliman. The true Church, says Carlyle ('Miscel- 
lanies,' II. 165), consists now of the publishers of 
those political newspapers which preach to the 
people daily and weekly, with an authority formerly 
only possessed by the Reformers or the popes." * 

The following is the view taken by Froude : 
" Neither Elizabeth, nor later politicians of Eliza- 
beth's temperament, desired the Church of England 
to become too genuine. It has been more con- 
venient to leave an element of unsoundness at the 
heart of an institution which, if sincere, might be 
dangerously powerful. The wisest and best of its 
bishops have found their influence impaired, and 
their position made equivocal, by the element of 
unreality which adheres to them. A feeling ap- 
proaching to contempt has blended with the reve- 
rence attaching to their position. Pretensions which 
many of them would have gladly abandoned have 
connected their office with a smile/' f 

It is not that we expect from any Protestant sect 
absolute consistency, but that we cannot overlook 
the insincerity of direct contradiction in formularies 
and articles of faifh. To make this contradiction 
more apparent, let us look for one moment at the 

* Dollinger's " Church and the Churches," pp. 159, 160, 170-172. 
} Froude, " History of England," XII. p. 578. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 215 

liturgy and offices of the English Church, and com- 
pare them with the Articles. 

In the office for the Baptism of Infants we read the 
following: " Almighty and everlasting God, who, by 
the baptism of Thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ in 
the river Jordan, didst sanctify water to the mystical 
washing away of sin, we beseech Thee, for Thine 
infinite mercies, that Thou wilt mercifully look upon 
this child, wash him, and sanctify him with the Holy 
Ghost." 

"We call upon Thee for this infant, that he, com- 
ing to Thy holy baptism, may receive remission of sin 
by spiritual regeneration." " Give Thy Holy Spirit 
to this infant, that he may be born again and be 
made an heir of everlasting salvation." " We yield 
Thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it has 
pleased Thee to regenerate this infant with Thy Holy 
Spirit, and to receive him for Thine own child by 
adoption." 

The Article has this language: "Baptism is not 
only a sign of profession, but it is also a sign of re- 
generation or new birth, whereby, as by an instru- 
ment, they that receive baptism rigidly are grafted 
into the Church ; the promises of the forgiveness of 
sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God, aie 
visibly signed and sealed ; faith is confirmed and 
grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God." 



216 



Third Lecture. 



To these words should be added the declaration 
of the Protestant Episcopal bishops in the United 
States, October 11, 1871, by which they solemnly 
teach "that the word regenerate, nsed in the office of 
Baptism, does not signifj^ any moral change wrought 
in the sacrament." We quote now from the 
office for Holy Communion : " Ye who mind to come 
to the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of 
our Saviour Christ must consider how St. Paul ex- 
horteth all persons diligently to examine themselves 
before they presume to eat of that Bread and drink 
of that Cup." "Vouchsafe to bless and sanctify 
with Thy Word and Holy Spirit these Thy gifts and 
creatures of bread and wine, that we, receiving them 
according to Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's 
holy institution, may be partakers of His most 
Messed Body and Blood" "We beseech Thee 
that we and all others who shall be partakers of this 
Holy Communion may worthily receive the most pre- 
cious Body and Blood of Tliy Son Jesus Christ, be 
filled with Thy grace and heavenly benediction, and 
made one body with Him, that He may dwell in them, 
and they in Him." 

Article XX VIII. condemns " transubstantiation, 
as repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, over- 
throwing the nature of a sacrament, and the occasion 
of many superstitions." It adds that "the Body of 



The Anglic ah Theory of the Church. 217 

Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only 
after a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the 
mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and 
eaten in the Supper is faitli." 

Much has been said in later days about the Apos- 
tolical Succession. We believe this is purely a pri- 
vate matter, as the Articles of the Church neither 
assert its necessity nor make any reference to it. 
Article XXIII. only says ' ' that no one should minis- 
ter on the congregation before he be lawfully called 
and sent. And those we ought to judge lawfully 
called and sent who are chosen and called by men 
who have public authority given unto them in the 
congregation.-" This is entirely vague, and may 
refer to laymen as well as clerics, and certainly in- 
cludes the "supreme head" who is the fountain of 
ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction. The preface to 
the Ordination Service, which asserts the divine in- 
stitution of the three sacred Orders, is not an article 
of faith, nor is it imposed on any one's conscience. 
And as the sacramental character of Holy Order is 
denied in Article XXY., it is evident that the foun- 
ders of the Anglican Church had no belief in any 
grace attached to the rite of ordination. We have 
already seen the opinions of the great Cranmer and 
Barlow, who had more to do with the infancy of the 
English ministry than any one else. Dr. McCrie says 



218 



Third Lecture. 



that "the first English Reformers by no means con- 
sidered ordination by the parent Church, or descend- 
ing from the parent Church, as necessary. They 
would have laughed at the man who would have 
asserted seriously that the imposition of the hands of 
the bishop was essential to the validity of ordination. 
They would not have owned that person as a Protes- 
tant, who would have ventured to insinuate that 
where this was wanting there was no Christian min- 
istry, no ordinance, and no Church. The private 
opinions of the first English Reformers were similar 
to those of the Reformers of Switzerland and Geneva. 
Hooper, in a letter dated February 8, 1550, informs 
Bullinger that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the 
bishops of Rochester, Ely, St. Davids, Lincoln, and 
Bath, agreed in all tilings with the Helvetic 
churches." * 

Whitaker replies to Durey : " Luther was a priest 
and doctor of your own, and could exercise that 
office in any of your churches. So, too, were Zwingli, 
Bucer, and others. And as presbyters, if by divine 
right presbyters are the same as bishops, they could 
set other presbyters over the churches. Therefore 
keep your Orders to yourselves. God is not so tied 
to Orders but that He can without Order, when the 



* Archbishop Spalding, II. 461. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church 219 

good of the Church requires, constitute ministers in 
the churches. " * 

The judicious Hooker teaches that " there may be 
sometimes very just reason to allow ordination with- 
out a bishop." In consistency with this opinion he 
recognized, as did others, the Orders of the Continen- 
tal churches, and is said to have made his dying con- 
fession to one of their ministers. Warburton re- 
marks that " the great Hooker was not only against 
all pretences to a divine, unalterable right in any 
form of Church government, but that he laid down 
principles which have entirely subverted them." 

These facts being incontestable, we find great insin- 
cerity in the claim of apostolical Order for the Angli- 
can communion. It is as if one should claim the 
privileges of a race not his own, or the clown disport 
himself in the garments of the king. The pontifical 
robes will not make a bishop any more than the dia- 
dem will make a prince. The comprehension of con- 
tradictions is the lasting feature of the English com- 
munion, and it will endure to its end. At a Church 
Congress held at Newcastle-on-Tyne this year, we 
are told that "there were five different classes of 
churchmen — Broad, High, Ritualistic, Evangelical, 
and ISFeo-Evangelical." The Bishop of Manchester 

*Whitakeu's " Defence," 1583, p. 820. 



220 



Tuird Lecture. 



delivered the opening sermon, in which he said : 
"The noticeable thing is the largeness, the simpli- 
city, if I may add the word, the infiniteness of the 
primitive creed. On no other than the broadest basis 
can yon bnild up a Church which shall be trnly ca- 
tholic, which shall embrace the world." 

At this Congress the Bishop of Liverpool speaks in 
favor of the state Establishment, and gives convinc 
ing reasons for his opinions. He is in favor of the 
Privy Council, and thinks the bishops not fit for de- 
ciding disputed questions. We give his words : 

"They would have the goodness to remember that 
the clergy, bishops, priests, and deacons did not pos- 
sess a judicial mind. They might be capital fellows 
in the pnlpit, but they were very bad on the bench. 
They were always telling their own story in their 
own churches, and were never contradicted or taken 
to pieces for what they had said, and the conse- 
quence was that they did not possess a judicial fa- 
culty, which a court of final appeal ought to possess. 
They might like this statement or not, but there was 
nothing like having a calm and considerate mind to 
look at both sides of the question, to be accustomed 
to weigh the meaning of words and sentences, and 
examine old documents to ascertain the meaning 
and intention of those who drew up the documents. 
There was nothing like a court composed of such 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 221 

men to settle disputes. He was satisfied that the 
laity would not be justified in allowing the bishops 
to settle such disputed questions. 

" He hoped that no one present expected too much 
from the royal commission now sitting. He believed 
the commission would not exceed its powers, and 
that they would decide that many questions would 
have to be settled in the old-fashioned manner. The 
royal commission, he was certain, would not take 
away from the crown its supremacy in ecclesiastical 
matters, and would never allow bishops to settle dis- 
puted questions." * 

This is certainly the only consistent view to take, 
notwithstanding all the objections of the Ritualist 
faction. The Privy Council may not be an ecclesi- 
astical court, but it is the proper authority for a 
Church by law established. Some of its decisions 
have been very remarkable, but for this reason they 
are probably more valuable. As an illustration we 
give one of them. The London Telegram, Feb- 
ruary 16, 1876, has the following: "The Judicial 
Committee of the Privy Council to-day decided the 
case of Jenkins against Cook, appealed from the 
decision of the Arches Court, in favor of Jenkins. 
Jenkins had denied the personality of Satan, and 



* Journal of the Congress, New York Guardian, November 5, 1881, 



222 



Third Lecture. 



the Rev. Mr. Cook thereupon refused to adminis- 
ter to him the sacraments. Jenkins sued in the 
Court of Arches, and the court sustained the Rev. 
Mr. Cook. The Privy Council condemned Cook to 
pay all the costs, and admonished him not to re- 
fuse the sacraments to Jenkins." The New York 
Sun of February 18 draws the conclusion that "be- 
lief in the personality of Satan has now been judi- 
cially declared not to be an essential part of the 
creed of the Church of England." " It was decided 
in England some time ago that it was not necessary 
for orthodox churchmanship to believe in the eternal 
punishment of sinners ; and it was proposed to in- 
scribe on the tombstone of the judge who made the 
decision, that lie dismissed hell with costs. Now 
that the devil also is turned out of court, it is hard 
to see what consolation is left to the men of the Cook 
stripe." 

The Bishop of Liverioool, in his charge to his 
clergy, has these striking words, which exhibit the 
doctrinal condition of his communion from his own 
point of view : 

"But supposing that secession and disruption of 
the Church of England are the results of the policy 
which I have just indicated, let us just remember 
how the matter will appear in the future annals of 
history. The record will be as follows : ' In the lat- 



The Anglican Theory of the Church 223 



ter part of the nineteenth century the Established 
Church of England was destroyed and rent in pieces 
because of a contention of two parties within her 
pale, neither of which would give way. One of the 
two parties persisted in administering the Lord's 
Supper with ceremonies borrowed from the Church 
of Rome ; ceremonies not one mentioned in Scrip- 
ture or the Communion office of the Prayer-Book ; 
ceremonies decidedly not of the essence of the sac- 
rament ; ceremonies condemned by the courts of 
law ; ceremonies which had not been used for three 
hundred years. The other party steadily refused to 
depart from the principles on which the Church was 
reformed in the sixteenth century, and from the cus- 
toms which had prevailed since the days of Queen 
Elizabeth. And as neither party would give way, 
the public got weary, Parliament stepped in, and 
the Church was disestablished, disendowed, and 
rent in pieces.' Now, what will the verdict of 
posterity be ? I leave it to yourselves to supply the 
answer. 

" As to myself, my mind is made up. I mean to 
abide by the decisions of the courts of law so long 
as those decisions are not superseded and nullified 
by Parliament, or reversed. 

"But while I say all this, I hold that there must 
be limits to the comprehensiveness of the Church 



224 



Third Lecture. 



of England. There must be certain boundaries and 
landmarks. For order is heaven's first law. There 
was order in Eden before the fall. There will 
be perfect order on earth at the restitution of all 
things. A Christian Church utterly destitute of or- 
der does not deserve to be called a Church at all. 
A Church, like every other corporation on earth, 
must have definite terms of membership. It must 
have a creed, and certain fixed principles of doctrine 
and worship. Its members have a right to know 
what its ministers are set to teach. 

u The member of the national Church of Eng- 
land has a just right to expect one general type of 
teaching and worship, whether he goes into a parish 
church in Truro or Lincoln, in Canterbury or Car- 
lisle. Different shades of statement in the pulpit 
he may find himself obliged to tolerate. But he 
may justly complain if the doctrine and ceremonial 
of one diocese is as utterly unlike that of another as 
light and darkness, black and white, acids and alka- 
lies, oil and water. 6 Liberty of prophesying ' and 
free thought in the abstract are excellent things. 
Bat they must have some limits. Just as in states 
the extreme of liberty becomes licentiousness and 
t yran ny, so in churches it becomes disorder and 
confusion. The Church which regards Deism, So- 
cinianism, Romanism, and Protestantism with equal 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 225 

favor or equal indifference is a mere Babel, a c city 
of confusion,' and not the city of God." 

The Protestant Episcopal Church in this country 
is not blessed with a Privy Council, and is therefore 
without this court of appeal. But for this reason it 
is more democratic, and there is no attempt to heal 
the divergences of doctrine. The only plan is to 
give all freedom ; and where all are free there can be 
no dogmatic tyranny. At its last General Conven- 
tion a prominent speaker, whose words were re- 
ceived with applause, tells us that too much zeal for 
doctrine is a disease ; and that this disease is becom- 
ing a thing of the past. He says: "All this has 
come to pass simply because men are coming to 
understand, under the teaching of that Divine Spirit 
who inhabits the Church, as the mystical body of 
Christ, that among all divinely ordained laws there 
is none more sacred than the law of individuality ; 
and that, while in all matters that are de fide truth 
is first, and then charity, }^et in that vast field of 
thought which embraces matters of mere opinion, 
truth divinely revealed has itself proclaimed the 
supremacy of another law by apostolic lips — namely, 
the law, 'Let every man be fully persuaded in his 
own mind.' " 



226 



Third Lecture. 



III. 

The Antagonism of the Anglican Church to the 
Catholic Faith. 

If history teaches us anything, it teaches us that 
the Church founded by Henry VIII. and Elizabeth 
is wholly identified with the system of religion com- 
monly called Protestantism. In common with this 
system, which came into being at the Reformation, 
it has condemned the Church which Jesus Christ 
instituted, and has rejected the faith which it re- 
ceived from our Lord. 

The identification of the Anglican communion with 
Protestantism has already been shown, and needs no 
further demonstration. Wherever it may be found, 
it rejoices in the name of Protestant, and they who 
would take this name from their spiritual mother are 
very unfilial. In every sense, however, the name 
with all its legacies belongs to the English Church. 
JSTo Protestant community in any part of the world 
has more thoroughly rejected the Church founded 
upon Peter, or is more bitterly antagonistic to the 
verities of Catholic faith. This is almost a self- 
evident proposition ; but we propose to prove it by 
a plain demonstration. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 22? 

First let us glance at the Articles of faith, which 
are the only symbolic declaration of the Anglican 
communion. It is quite easy to say that this com- 
munion receives the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene 
Confession, with the Creed of St. Athanasius. It is 
true that these creeds are to be found in the English 
Prayer-Book. We regret, however, that the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church has omitted altogether the 
Creed of St. Athanasius. Still these creeds are inter- 
preted and explained by the Articles of belief, and 
the words of the Articles are the only distinctive 
utterance of the Church. The English editions of 
these Articles are usually preceded by the "Royal 
Declaration written by Archbishop Laud in 1628. 
This Declaration asserts that the Articles contain 
the true doctrine of the Church of England. The 
clergy are commanded to subscribe and take the 
Articles in their literal and grammatical sense, from 
which, says the supreme head, " we will not endure 
any varying or departing in the least degree." The 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States 
solemnly adopted these Articles in the Convention of 
September, 1801. In the following points these 
Articles deny and attack the Catholic faith : 

Article XI. asserts the doctrine of justification by 
faith only, endorsing the Homily of Justification, 
and teaching the Lutheran doctrine of imputation. 



228 



Thiud Lecture. 



The Homily has these words: "Christ is now the 
righteousness of all them who truly believe in Him. 
He for them paid their ransom by His death. He for 
tliem fulfilled the law in His life. So that now in 
Him and by Him every true Christian man may be 
called a fulfiller of the law ; forasmuch as that 
which his infirmity lacketh, Christ's justice hath 
supplied." 

Article XIII. declares that "works done before 
justification have the nature of sin," thus teaching, 
indirectly at least, the doctrine of total depravity. 

Articles XII. and XI Y. deny the merit of any 
good works which are wrought by co-operation with 
the grace of Christ, thus again implying the Luth- 
eran doctrine of imputed or forensic justification. 

Article XVII. is a distinct declaration of the Cal- 
vinistic doctrine of election. It does not teach the 
election of the lost to damnation, but it will suit any 
Calvinistic confession whatever, and no one can sub- 
scribe it honestly unless in this respect he be a Cal- 
vinist. 

Article XIX. pretends to tell us what the visible 
Church is, and, in so doing, denies altogether the 
notes of the Catholic Church. Any congregation of 
men who have the pure word of G-od and the sacra- 
ments is declared to be the visible Church. The 
individual, as we have already shown, is to determine 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 229 



this matter for himself. Tims tlie unity of the 
Church is denied and actually rendered impossible. 
The visibility of the Church falls with its unity ; 
but the Article goes on to assert that the whole 
Church of God throughout the world has erred at 
some time in matters of faith: "The churches of 
Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome have 
erred.'' The infallibility of the Catholic Church is 
then denied, and no part of the Church can be 
trusted. We have heard of a sophistry by which 
the meaning of this Article is evaded. We are told 
that these d liferent churches — branches, we suppose 
— do not all err together; but when one is wrong 
the other may be right. God does not let them 
all go down together. This indeed would be a 
merciful provision • but then the question comes up, 
Which is right? who is to determine when differ- 
ent churches disagree 3 It cannot be one of the 
churches in question, and it therefore must be the 
individual with his study of the Scriptures who is 
to settle the orthodoxy of the churches. Then 
from brandies we pass to individuals, and our per- 
plexities increase. 

Article XX., however, seems to assert the pos- 
sibility of the whole Church "ordaining things 
contrary to God's word, and expounding one place 
of Scripture so that it be repugnant to another." A 



230 



Third Lecture. 



Church that can by any chance do this is surely 
not infallible. 

Article XXL leaves no doubt in this matter, as it 
plainly teaches that general councils, which repre- 
sent the whole Church, are assemblies of mere men, 
and "may err, and sometimes have erred, in things 
pertaining to God." 

It would be hard to lind anywhere a more expli- 
cit denial of the sacred prerogatives of Christ's 
Church. 

Article XXII. declares that "the doctrine of pur- 
gatory and the practice of the invocation of the 
saints are repugnant to the word of God," thus at- 
tacking dogmas that are coeval with Christianity. 

Article XXV. denies five of the seven sacraments 
which were instituted by our Lord and His apostles, 
and have been ever in use in the whole Catholic 
Church. 

Article XXVII., rightly interpreted, though the 
language is designedly vague, takes away from bap- 
tism its true sacramental character, making the value 
of the rite depend upon the receiver ex opere ope- 
rands. 

Article XXVIII. denies the real presence of the 
Body and Blood of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, 
rejecting the change of substance, and declaring that 
faith is the means by which the Body of Christ 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 231 

is received and eaten. The bread is eaten by the 
mouth, but the Flesh of the Lord is eaten by fait7i, 
which, to say the least, is a most singular expression. 
This Article adopts the Zwinglian and Calvinistic 
theory against the Lutheran. The Eucharistic Sacri- 
fice is also denied by this Article, since if Christ be 
not really present He cannot be offered to God. 

Article XXXI., however, goes on fully to reject 
the Sacrifice of the altar, and to assert that "the 
sacrifices of Masses, in which it was commonly said 
that the priest did offer Christ for the quick and 
the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were 
blaspliemous fables and dangerous deceits." 

In no point has the Anglican communion shown 
more plainly its antagonism to the Catholic religion 
than in its hostility to the adorable Sacrifice of the 
New Law. From first to last it has resisted every at- 
tempt to revive any doctrine of sacrifice, and the lan- 
guage which we constantly hear is only the echo of 
voices which have spoken loudly since the days of 
Elizabeth. A newspaper of our own day, belonging 
to the extreme High-Church branch of Anglicanism, 
tells us that the great difference between them and 
the Roman Catholic Church is not the question of 
organization, but the doctrine concerning the Holy 
Eucharist. " The doctrines and practices (of the Ri- 
tualists, who profess to offer sacrifice) are an attempt 



232 



Third Lecture. 



made in the American Church to un-Protestantize the 
Church, to undo the work of the English Reforma- 
tion, and to bring back into the Church the cast-off 
accretions, the errors and corruptions, the heathen- 
ish superstitions and fetichisms of the Church of 
Rome."* 

In contraposition to the Articles and the living- 
voice of the Anglican community we place the words 
of St. Cyril of Jerusalem. Speaking of the Chris- 
tian Sacrifice a.d. 363 : " Then having sanctified our- 
selves by means of these spiritual hymns, we call 
upon the God that loveth man to send forth the 
Holy Spirit upon the things that lie to open view, in 
order that He may make the bread Christ s Body, 
and the wine Christ s Btood ; for universally what 
the Holy Spirit hath touched is sanctified and 
changed. Then after the spiritual sacrifice is per- 
fected, the unbloody worship, upon that sacrifice of 
propitiation we beseech God for the common peace 
of the churches, for the stability of the world, for 
kings, for soldiers and allies, for the sick, for the 
afflicted ; and, in a word, for all who need help we 
pray and offer up this sacrifice.' ? f "These things 
having learned, and being fully persuaded that 
which seems bread is not bread, even though sen- 

* New York Guardian, October 22, 1881. 
| " Catech. Myst,," V. 



The Anglic ax Theory of the Church. 233 

sible to the taste, but Christ's Body ; and that 
what seems wine is not wine, but Christ's Blood, 
strengthen thy heart partaking thereof as spiritual, 
and make the face of thy soul cheerful." * 

We add the words of St. John Chrysostom in re- 
gard to the oblation of the Holy Sacrifice for the 
departed : " We do not in vain make commemora- 
tion of the departed during the divine mysteries, 
and approach God in their behalf, beseeching the 
Lamb that lies before us, bat that some consolation 
may arise to them. Let us not, then, grow weary 
of helping the departed, of offering up prayers for 
them, for even the common expiation of the world 
lies before us." f 

The instinctive hatred of the Christian Sacrifice, 
without which there is really no proper worship of 
God, has shown itself in the whole history of the 
English Church. The first step was to take down 
the altars from the churches and to substitute tables 
in their place. Then the minister was commanded 
to stand at the side of these tables, and by no pos- 
ture or act to signify either the real presence of 
Christ or the notion of sacrifice. The word altar was 
dropped from the Communion office, and the word 
priest used only as synonymous with minister. 

* "Cateeh. Myst,." TV. 

t T. X. Horn. XLI. in Ep. I. ad Corinth. 



2U 



Third Lecture. 



And, to the lasting honor of the Catholic priesthood, 
their sufferings and their martyrdom were chiefly for 
the glory of the Christian Sacrifice. They suffered 
and died in cruel torture because they were priests, 
and would, against the law, persist in offering up 
the adorable Sacrifice. 

"The Catholics,-' says Dr. Lingard,* * 4 were at this 
time doomed to suffer additional severities, although 
hardly a month had been allowed to pass in which 
the scaffold had not streamed with their blood. A 
statute was now enacted providing that if any clergy- 
man born in the queen' s dominions, and ordained by 
the authority of the Bishop of Rome, were found 
within the realm after the expiration of forty days, 
he should be adjudged guilty of high treason ; that 
all persons aiding or abetting him should be liable to 
the penalties of felony ; that whosoever knew of his 
being in the kingdom, and did not discover him with- 
in twelve days, should be fined and imprisoned at the 
queen's pleasure ; that all students in the Catholic 
seminaries who did not return within six months 
after proclamation to that effect should be punished 
as traitors ; that persons supplying them with money 
should incur a prcemunire ; that parents sending 
their children abroad without license should forfeit 



* Lingard, " History," VIII. chap. iii. 



The Anglican Theory oe the Church. 235 

for every such offence one hundred pounds ; and 
that children so sent to seminaries should be dis- 
abled from inheriting the property of their parents." 

Thus it was proposed to extinguish the priesthood 
in England. During fourteen years it was positively 
known that sixty-one clergymen, forty-seven laymen, 
and two gentlewomen had suffered capital punish- 
ment. The crime of hearing one Mass was punished 
by a year's imprisonment and the forfeiture of one 
hundred marks, and it was a felony to shelter a priest 
or to give him food. Detectives were found to hunt 
for priests as for notorious criminals. To illustrate 
the spirit of the Church of Elizabeth, and the cruel- 
ty with which the officials of the state pursued the 
Christian Sacrifice and altar, Ave shall take the 
space to dwell upon a few instances of this singular 
persecution. 

The " Life of Father John Gerard" gives the ac- 
count of those who were condemned to death. for 
simply relieving a priest in his temporal necessities. 
Sometimes the sentence of death was not carried out, 
and the sufferer was left to pine away in narrow and 
filthy cells. Houses were searched and every requi- 
site for the celebration of Mass seized as evidence of 
crime and treason. 

Mr. Francis Tregian, an English gentleman, was 
detained twenty-eight years for having received into 



236 



Third Lecture. 



his house Cuthbert Maine, the proto-martyr of all 
the seminaries. This holy priest was arrested in 
1579, charged with publishing a document from the 
pope, with having in his possession an Agnus Dei, 
and with saying on the first day of June "a certain 
public and open prayer called a private Mass." 
4 'The sheriff, being sworn, declared that he had 
found an iron and sarcenet in Cuthbert Maine's 
chamber, and that he found there likewise divers 
Mass books and other things appertaining to the 
saying of Mass." He was found guilty and sen- 
tenced as follows: "The court doth award that 
thou shalt be carried from hence to the place from 
whence thou earnest, and from thence thou shalt be 
drawn unto the market-place of this town, where 
thou shalt be hanged until thou be half dead, and 
thy bowels, being taken out of thy body and before 
thy face, being alive, shall be thrown into the fire, 
and then thy head shall be cut off, and thy body 
divided into four parts, to be hanged up in such 
several places as the queen's majesty shall ap- 
point." This sentence was carried out to the let- 
ter, "after three months' confinement in a most 
miserable and horrible dungeon, his legs laden and 
fast fettered continually with iron." * This was 

* " Troubles of Our Catholic Forefathers," First Series, pp. 60-100. 



The Anglican The off of the Church. 237 



quite a common punishment of priests, who were 
generally quartered before their death, and very 
often disembowelled. 

In 1594, in the month of July, John Boast and 
John Ingram, priests, and George Swallowell, a 
minister who at his arraignment professed the 
Catholic faith, were condemned to the like cruel 
death. " 4 There is no Christian law in the world,' 
said Ingram, £ that can make the saying and sacri- 
fice of the Mass treason ; as well might the celebrat- 
ing of the Maundy of Christ's disciples be made 
treason.' " These three martyrs for the Holy Sac- 
rifice were "banged, cut down, bowelled, and quar- 
tered as the manner is." 

We pass, however, from the sufferings of priests 
to one instance of the martyrdom of a gentlewoman 
for " the crime of harboring Jesuit and seminary 
priests." Margaret Clitherow was arraigned on the 
14th day of March, 1586. In answer to the charge 
made against her, she denied having harbored any 
one who was not a friend to the queen. "Then 
they brought forth two chalices, divers pictures, 
and in mockery put two Church vestments and 
other Church gear upon two lewd fellows' backs, 
and in derision the one began to pull and dally with 
the other, scoffing on the bench before the judges, 
and, holding up singing-breads, said to the martyr : 



238 



Third Lecture. 



' Behold thy gods in whom thou believes t. ' " " ' It 
is plain,' said the judge, ' that you had priests in your 
house, by these things which were found. Good 
woman, I pray you put yourself to the country. 
There is no evidence but a boy against you, and 
whatsoever they do, yet we may show mercy after- 
wards.' The martyr still refusing to demand trial, 
the sentence was declared : 1 You must return from 
whence you came, and there, in the lowest part of 
the prison, be stripped naked, laid down, your back 
upon the ground, and as much weight laid upon you 
as you are able to bear, and so to continue three 
days without meat or drink, except a little barley- 
bread and puddle-water, and the third day to be 
pressed to death, your hands and feet tied to posts, 
and a sharp stone under your back.'" Tormented 
by ministers and denied all consolations of religion, 
she persisted to the end in the profession of her 
faith and her loyalty to the queen, for whom she 
prayed with her last breath. When the hour came, 
" the women took off her clothes, and put upon her 
the long habit of linen. Then very quietly she laid 
her down upon the ground, her face covered with a 
handkerchief, the linen habit being placed over her 
as far as it would reach, all the rest of her body 
being naked. The door was laid upon her ; her 
hands she joined towards her face. Then the sheriff 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 239 

said, 'Nay, you must have your hands bound.' 
The martyr put forth her hands over the door, still 
joined. Then the two sergeants parted them, and 
with the inkle strings which she had prepared for 
that purpose bound them to two posts, so that her 
body and her arms made a perfect cross. They 
willed her again to ask the queen's forgiveness and 
to pray for her. The martyr said she had prayed 
for her. After this they laid weight upon her, 
which when she first felt she said, 1 Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, 
have mercy upon me ! ' which were the last words she 
was heard to speak. She was in dying one-quarter 
of an hour. A sharp stone, as much as a man's 
fist, was put under her back. Upon her was laid to 
the quantity of seven or eight hundredweight at the 
least, which, breaking her ribs, caused them to burst 
forth of the skin. This was at nine of the clock, and 
she continued in the press till three at afternoon." * 
These and many other martyrs gave their life for 
the adorable Sacrament, which is the centre of re- 
ligion and the great mystery of faith. It was the 
glory of England that from the ancient days her 
children had been distinguished for devotion to this 
divine mystery, without which there is neither 
Christian faith nor Christian worship. "It was the 

* 'Troubles of our Catholic Forefather:;/' Third Series, chap, xx. 



240 



Third Lecture. 



object of supreme adoration during all the centuries 
that followed the adoption of Christianity by our 
English forefathers, down to the hour when the 
revolt of lust and greed and pride overthrew the 
altar of sacrifice, and extinguished the lamp of the 
old Church throughout the length and breadth of 
the land." * What is to be said of a communion, 
which some of her children call a brancli of the 
Catholic Church, thus treading down the Christian 
altar and persecuting the Holy Sacrifice bej^ond its 
borders ? Surely nothing could more plainly show 
its apostasy from the faith and worship of the one 
Apostolic Church. At the present day the antago- 
nism of the Anglican communion towards the Apos- 
tolic See and its faith is as decided as ever. Per- 
haps, without the fires of persecution, it is even 
more bitter. And this bitterness seems to increase 
with pretensions to Catholicity or assumptions of 
apostolicity. The Low-Churchmen are by no means 
so uncharitable, and the old theory of "the man of 
sin" is quiescent among them, if it be -not dead. 
The High-Churchmen are very much excited, and 
Ritualists rave. Listen to the following language 
of a High-Church American bishop: "The Roman 
Catholic Church is defiled by 7ieresy, in doctrine 

* Dublin Review, July, 1881: " History of the Holy Eucharist in 
Great Britain," by T. E. Bridgett. 



The A kg lic an Theory of the Church. 241 

and in worship, of the rankest kind. Twelve here- 
tical opinions it has dared to embody in a spurious 
creed, and impose, upon such as are unhappy 
enough to fall into its snares, as terms of com- 
munion. 

" One, worse than all, saj)ping the very foundation 
of the Christian faith, in the doctrine of the Incar- 
nation, it has all but formally declared and all but 
universally received. These fearful heresies are 
none the less so, because not yet formally con- 
demned by a competent tribunal of the universal 
Church. The lack of that formal condemnation saves 
the churches in which they have taken root from 
formal, complete excision from the Christian body. 

"But the heresies by which those churches are 
defiled are condemned already by the word of God 
and Catholic Tradition ; and, mrtualty, the com- 
munion in which they are maintained is a heretical 
communion. Its heresy of the Miraculous Concep- 
tion, once admitted, destroys the whole scheme of 
the Atonement and Redemption, the whole econo- 
my of the reconciliation of God and man in the 
Person of the Incarnate Son. Its heresy of Tran- 
substantiation saps the evidence of revelation, and 
delivers the receiver over to boundless scepticism 
marked in the visor of unquestioning, undistinguish- 
ing, unapprehensive belief. 



Third Lecture. 



" Its dreadful idolatries tax the ingenuity of the 
charitable to discover grounds of hope that they 
have not brought upon the churches that permit, 
nay, encourage, nay, even teach, their practice, the 
awful doom of utter apostasy." * 

The pastoral of the bishops of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church, in their last convention, echoes the 
same sentiments : "A Church, reformed and puri- 
fied in the fires of martyrdom, that shall be ashamed, 
of her own title ; within whose walls shall be intro- 
duced, by little and little, practices and rites once 
discarded, and which, if they teach anything, teach 
errors once repudiated ; that casts longing eyes upon 
the land of former bondage, can take no surer way 
to forfeit irretrievably the confidence and respect of 
the American people." 

A leading Ritualist minister, who belongs to a so- 
called religious order, hears confessions, and pre- 
tends to offer the sacrifice of the Mass, has lately 
said that he would rather die without the sacra- 
ments than receive them at the hands of a Catho- 
lic priest. We can hardly understand this bitter- 
ness, unless the great enemy of all truth has taken 
possession of him. But we wonder he cannot see 
his own inconsistency, as all the world sees it ; and 

* Bishop Whittingham, quoted in the Guardian, October 29, 1881. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 243 

we lament sincerely for the poor souls whom such 
men misguide. 

The High-Churchmen profess a reverence for the 
churches of the Eastern schism. We know not why 
they prefer these separated and lifeless commu- 
nions to the Catholic Church united to the see of 
Peter. They have condemned them and their er- 
rors as plainly and mercilessly as has the vicar of 
Christ. Still, as they are divided from Christian 
unity, they are in opjjosition to the Supreme Pon- 
tiff, and this attracts to them all who are in error. 
Yet, before we leave this subject, let us see how 
the Anglican Church is regarded by the divines 
of the Russian communion: "No other Protestant 
Church was ever so full of contradictions, so full 
of variegated heresy, as the English Church was, is, 
and will be to the end of her existence. With such a 
heretical Church the Orthodox Church never would 
allow her bishops to transact. With individuals she 
will be most happy to treat ; but an English Church 
she does not know, and may not know as 1 ong as she 
preserves pure orthodoxy." "Are we to commune 
with a Church so replete with heresy as the English 
Church is ? God forbid ! No communion with a 
heretical Church ! No communion with the English 
Church ! It would be the grave of orthodoxy." * 

* " Catholic Orthodoxy," by Dr. Overbeck, pp. 94, 97. 



2U 



Third Lecture. 



IV. 

The Absurdity of the Branch Theory of the Church. 

There is only one theory by which the Anglican 
Church can claim any part in the Church of Christ, 
and this theory is suicidal to the Church itself. 
The whole pretension is an after- thought not re- 
cognized, nor even admitted, in the first days of the 
English Reformation. Then the whole Catholic 
communion was said to have apostatized from the 
faith, and the pope was declared Antichrist. For 
ages the Apostolic See had lost the Christian reli- 
gion, and had led the w T orld into heathenisli error. 
Surely the Lord had no greater enemy than the 
Supreme Pontiff ; and the Church over which he 
ruled was the Babylon of the Apocalypse, u the 
mother of the fornications and the abominations of 
the earth." It was a disgrace and mark of condem- 
nation to have anything in common with her. 

But as time sped on, and for prudential reasons 
the form of episcopacy had been retained in Eng- 
land with many of the ancient prayers, there arose 
a party within the communion who ventured to put 
forth claims to apostolic orders and to the grace 
of the sacraments, which the Church had denied 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 245 



and still denies. And at a later day there came 
what is called a revival, when the advanced church- 
men put forth pretensions which are suicidal to 
themselves and the whole Catholic Church. These 
pretensions render the position of the English He- 
formers untenable and ignominious, while they ut- 
terly destroy the essential character of the Church 
of Christ. Yet, as the pretenders are the masters 
of their own folly, there is no one to teach them. 
For them there is no authority on earth, as they 
interpret the Sacred Scriptures to suit their own 
views, and go through the field of antiquity making 
out of it whatever they please. ]STo council, no liv- 
ing Church, no Christian Father is anything to them. 
They will believe as they choose, and will be what 
they call themselves, whether the world consents 
to their views or rejects their theories. 

It seems, therefore, almost idle to reason with 
them; and yet the grace of God is almighty, and 
the light sometimes breaks where long hardness 
of heart has closed the door to every access of its 
beams. In the preceding divisions of this lecture 
we have shown the origin of the English Church, 
and have exposed its real character. We shall 
now try with all honesty to examine this theory 
by which Anglicans endeavor to make good their 
pretension to belong in any way to the Church of 



246 



Third Lecture. 



Christ. We are anxious to do them justice and to 
give their claims all the credit which they desire. 
We will then state the brand) theory as fairly as 
we are able, before we proceed to the examination 
of its singular inconsistencies. Surely it will be 
just to take the language of those who are dis- 
tinguished in its advocacy, and are presumed to 
comprehend its peculiarities. Here are the remark- 
able words : " Anglican Catholicity holds up the 
inclusive theory. Its conception of the Catholic 
Church includes every communion which, accept- 
ing the Mcene Creed and the six general councils, 
possesses also an apostolic ministry, and therefore 
the sacraments and the Catholic sacramental life; 
in other words, that the visible Catholic Church is 
one like a family." " Catholic Christendom, then, 
presents itself in two vast and separate divisions : 
namely, first, Catholics not in communion with the 
see of Rome ; and, secondly, Catholics in commu- 
nion with that see. The former division comprises 
within itself the Greek Catholics, the Armenian 
and Georgian churches, the Anglican Catholics, and 
the Alt- Catholics — in all something over one hun- 
dred millions of souls. The latter division comprises 
the Roman Catholics alone, in all about one hun- 
dred and seventy millions of souls." u Kow, the Ca- 
tholic Church is one like a family, not like a sin- 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 247 

gle individual. The three or four sisters may un- 
happily fall out among themselves, they may not 
speak to each other, they may not eat at the same 
table with each other ; but all this wrangling among 
the sisters cannot go down to the foundation of 
the unity of the family, and break that ; they are 
sisters still, though they do not speak to each other. 
The boughs and branches of the one organic Catho- 
lic tree may be tossed by the winds of mutual dis- 
cussion, and flap against each other; but the tree 
remains one tree, because all hold by the Catholic 
sacraments to Christ," The manner in which these 
disputing sisters represent Christ to the world is 
explained in this way : That which they agreed 
upon before they quarrelled is the truth. The in- 
fallible truth is in the six general councils. "Be- 
sides the formal statements of the Creed, there are 
other things which we know to be true also ; not 
because the whole Church Catholic hath formulat- 
ed them in general council, and accepted them as 
thus formulated, but because the Church's docu- 
mentary voice has always and in all its tliree parts 
everywhere declared them." "The whole Anglican 
Church together, therefore, is fallible ; the whole 
Greek Church is fallible ; the whole Roman Church 
is fallible. The whole body of bishops is in itself 
alone a fallible body." " It is in the combined ejpis- 



248 



Third Lecture. 



copate all over the world, then, that we have the 
vicar of Christ on earth, and not in any single one 
of the bishops." * 

We do not know that we perfectly comprehend 
this luminous view of the Christian Church. Still, 
as far as we are able to understand it, the branc7i 
theory is fairly developed. In the beginning there 
was one Church and one family, where the sisters 
did meet at the same table and speak to each other. 
After a time this Church, like a very unchristian 
family, was broken into parts. But when thus 
broken into parts, one part was just as good as the 
others. It broke into parts quite early ; and then 
its voice was hushed. It had the good fortune to 
keep together until six general councils were held, 
and the great rent took place, and it never spoke 
again, except by a queer kind of documentary 
voice. The power of the Church to break into 
parts is not limited. It may go on in this break- 
ing process to the end of time. According to the 
definition given, there were two great parts for seve- 
ral centuries — two sisters who would not speak to 
each other. Then the great Luther appeared, and 
after him John Calvin, Zwingli, Henry VIII., Cran- 
mer, and Elizabeth. So the Church broke again in 

* 4< Catholicity and Protestantism," by F. C. Ewer. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 249 

the sixteenth, century, and there came a third party, 
just as good as the other two, and another sister 
showed herself and set up a private table of her own. 
This did not disturb the unity of Christianity, be- 
cause it is one, not like an individual, but like a 
family. Then three centuries went on, and there 
came another break, and behold another sister ap- 
pears who calls herself an ^.^-Catholic. This last 
break is perhaps the best rent of all, and the new 
sister is the baby of the family. But they are all 
one Church. They condemn each other and call 
each other Antichrist ; still they are one. They are 
all wrong, because they do not agree ; and they are 
all right, because they are one family. They profess 
creeds which contradict each other, but these creeds 
are of no consequence. The truth is not to be found 
in them, but in those words they used to speak be- 
fore the break took place, and in the six general 
councils. Upon this portion of the Church's his- 
tory private study and private interpretation may 
exhaust their zeal. There is a singular head to this 
broken and breaking Church. It is the combined 
episcopate. All the bishops throughout the world 
are the vicar of Clirist. There are more heads than 
there are parts, and every head has a mouth; but 
we mast get all these mouths together, and make 
them speak the same thing, and then, thank God ! 



250 



Third Lecture. 



we have the truth. One mouth cannot be left out, 
for this vicar of Christ cannot be mutilated. He 
is all together, or he is not at all. 

Mneteen centuries have passed away, and we hear 
of only four breaks ; but others will come, and they 
have a right to come, for such is the constitution of 
the Church which is one like a family. It is not a 
model family, but its nature is peculiar. To put a 
Christian example before us of unity was not the 
intention of the Divine Founder of the Church. We 
hope the families of the upholders of the branch 
theory will not follow the example of their spiritual 
mother. 

Now, to draw into simple statement these curi- 
ous views of the most sacred institution of Jesus 
Christ, we believe that they contain the following 
propositions : 

1. The Church of Christ is neither visibly nor mor- 
ally one, but consists of several branches, which are 
separated from each other and do not hold the same 
faith. 

2. To be a branch of the Church it is only neces- 
sary to possess "an apostolic ministry, and to hold 
the Mcene Creed and accept the first six general 
councils." 

3. These branches already existing, and those 
about to exist in future time, are of equal autho- 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 251 

rity. They all, whatever their doctrines may be, 
form the one Church. 

It seems to us that no honest mind will fail to per- 
ceive the contradictions contained in these proposi- 
tions, which completely destroy the essential notes 
of the Christian Church. Let us examine them in 
detail : 

1. Branches which are separated from each other, 
which condemn each other, between which there is 
no intercommunion, form one body. To carry out 
the figure, branches which are in no way joined to- 
gether, which are totally different in nature, form 
one tree. They bring forth totally different fruit, 
and still are supposed to be in one stock. In na- 
ture this could not take place, except by artificial 
means, for God is not the author of such inconsis- 
tency. But in the sphere of grace, where the Di- 
vine Spirit works for an end, this contradiction is 
impossible. 

This theory destroys the unity of the Church, and 
renders it utterly useless for any work, divine or 
human. 

There is, confessedly, no visible unity between 
branches which have no communion with each 
other, between " sisters who neither eat together nor 
speak to each other." Surely they are not visibly 
one, and in no sense can they be said to form one 



252 



Third Lecture. 



visible communion. There is no moral unity, since 
they do not hold the same faith, nor agree with each 
other in the confession of the Nicene Creed. They 
condemn each other, and even in doctrines which 
they mutually profess they stand far apart. The 
Catholic Church excommunicates all these branches 
for deadly heresy ; and they in return call her Anti- 
christ and the mother of abominations. Where is 
the moral unity ? Where is the confession of one 
faith? The creeds, and even the first six general 
councils, are outside of the Catholic communion dif- 
ferently interpreted. Surely the Greeks, and the 
Anglicans, and the AZ^-Catholics do not speak in a 
farce when they condemn the Apostolic See and re- 
fuse it obedience. There is no need to tell how 
plainly the Supreme Pontiff has condemned and dis- 
owned these pretended branches of a divided Chris- 
tianity. If he did not do so he would give up to in- 
fidelity the essential characteristics of the Church of 
Christ. We quote from the letter of Cardinal Pa- 
trizi, September 16, 1864, to certain Anglicans who 
favored an association ' ' for promoting the unity of 
Christendom" : " The principle on w^hich this asso- 
ciation rests is one which overthrows the divine con- 
stitution of the Church. For it is pervaded by the 
idea that the true Church of Jesus Christ consists 
partly of the Roman Church spread abroad and pro- 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 253 

pa gated throughout the world, and partly of the 
Photian schism and the Anglican heresy, as having, 
equally with the Roman Church, one Lord, one faith, 
and one baptism. The Church Catholic, truly so- 
called, must be luminous with all the high attributes 
of unity, sanctity, and apostolical succession. So 
far from its being possible that communions separate 
from the Roman See can be rightly called or reputed 
Catholic, their very separation and disagreement 
are the marks by which to know those communities 
and Christians that hold neither the true faith nor 
the true doctrine of Christ, as Irenarus (Book III., 
against Heresies) most clearly showed as early as 
the second century. 

"It was this assertion of this same truth that Pope 
Hormisdas required of the bishops who abjured the 
schism of Acacius, in the formula approved by all 
Christian antiquity, in which they who agree not in 
all things with the Apostolic See are said to be put 
forth from the communion of the Church Catholic." 

We presume that there is no doubt in regard to 
the position in which the Greek communion stands 
towards the Anglican Church. Its condemnation of 
the Protestant doctrine has been as thorough and 
decided as language could express it. We may refer 
the reader to the Eastern councils of Constantinople 
in 1641 and of Bethlehem in 1672. There has been 



254 



Third Lecture. 



no case of any intercommunion between these two 
branches, and no member of the English Chnrch could 
ever receive the sacraments at the hands of an East- 
ern priest without abjuring his Church and its heresy. 
One of the advanced Ritualists, who simply sought 
to receive the Holy Communion at St. Petersburg, 
was fully informed of his position. "The archpriest 
told me," says he, "that I must renounce and ana- 
thematize the Thirty-nine Articles, and the British 
Church, which imposes such Articles as a confession 
of the true faith upon her members. And I was bid- 
den to take notice that it was not enough to have 
said anathema to the heresies objected, unless I said 
it also to the Church which maintained in those Arti- 
cles the same heresies, as her confession of faith." * 

We quote again from Dr. Overbeck : "As long as 
you harbor heresy in the bosom of your Church, 
without being able to secrete it from the system, 
either this system is no Church at all or a Church 
infected, degenerated, and disabled by heresy — an 
empty, hollow Church, which the Holy Ghost has 
left. The orthodox Catholic Church does not recog- 
nize the English Church to be a church, in her own 
meaning of the word, no more than the Lutheran, 
Reformed, or any other Protestant Church." 



Appeal of the Eev. W. Palmer, pp. 136, 174. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 255 

"The English Church is Protestant, and therefore 
null ; there does not exist an English Church in the 
eyes of the orthodox Church." * 

Verily, the Eastern sister does not speak to the 
Saxon sister, nor eat at the same table with her. 

We have already sufficiently shown the spirit of 
the Anglican Church towards the Apostolic See and 
its faith. The Protestant Articles of that Church 
condemn in the plainest terms the creed and practice 
of the Greek branch, so that the Eastern schism is 
as fully reprobated by the consistent Anglican as 
is the Roman Church. Thus between these three 
branches there is unity of no kind, neither visible nor 
moral. The ingenious Ritualist attempts to find a 
unity in the assumption that the divided commu- 
nions partake of the same sacraments, and have, 
therefore, the same sacramental life. Even if this 
were so, the life is that of the individual, and not of 
the body to which he belongs. The individual, if he 
be in good faith and fit dispositions, may receive the 
grace of the sacraments outside of the visible fold 
of Christ, all other conditions being present. But 
this life of grace is for himself and not for the Church 
to which he is attached. Neither does baptism con- 
ferred beyond the Catholic communion in any way 



*Overbeck, " Catholic Orthodoxy," pp. 00, 107. 



256 



Third Lecture. 



touch or benefit the sect of the receiver. All the 
baptized belong to the one holy Church, which is the 
body of Christ, and the grace they receive is of His 
fulness. The moment they are in willing heresy or 
schism they lose the sacramental grace which sancti- 
lied them. There is, then, no sacramental life to the 
willing heretic, and no bond of union between him 
and the true children of God. The Eastern schism 
can give no sacraments, even with all its valid orders, 
except to those in ignorance of their sinful separa- 
tion from the unity of Christ. The sacrament of 
penance can only" be administered by schismatical 
priests, in the article of death, and when no priest 
having lawful jurisdiction can be found. The Eng- 
lish Church, having no apostolic orders, can admin- 
ister no sacraments whatever. The whole theory, 
therefore, of unity through an invisible sacramental 
life is an assumption of the point to be proved, and 
inconsequent to the argument. We deny the sacra- 
mental life of an}^ body which is not the one divine 
Church, the fulness of Him who filleth her all in all. 
The Church is the sacrament of unity, the outward 
sign of union to Christ, and they who do not be- 
long to it are not the members of Christ. The word 
brancli is wrongly applied, and there is no parallel 
between the branches of one common tree and the 
divided schismatical bodies. The tree and the 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 257 

branch are one — one in life, one in growth. The 
branch cannot be separated from the tree and live. 
The sects cut off from the communion of the Church 
are not one with the Church in anything. They have 
no part in her life, they are possessors neither of the 
same faith nor of the same spiritual nourishment. 

This theory, therefore, denies the unity of the 
Church of Christ, breaks the body of Christ, which 
cannot be broken, and renders the word of the Incar- 
nate God a lie. He made his Church one. He de- 
clared that it should continue as He made it. He 
promised to be with it all days to the end of the 
world. He promised that the gates of hell should 
not prevail against it nor overwhelm the rock on 
which He built it. He promised to it a oneness 
which is like to that which subsists between the 
adorable Persons of the Trinity. If the Church He 
founded has gone to pieces ; if the rock of Peter has 
failed ; if there be no one Church built upon the 
apostles and prophets, of which He is the corner- 
stone, then His word has failed, and His ministry 
on earth is a deception. Divided bodies are not one ; 
broken branches do not form one living tree ; hostile 
sects arrayed against each other are not the fulfil- 
ment of His promise. The gates of hell have in- 
deed achieved their victory against the Consubstan- 
tial Son of God, 



258 



Third Lecture. 



2. But the conditions on which a sect becomes a 
branch of the true Church are " to possess an apos- 
tolic ministry, to hold the Nicene Creed, and to ac- 
cept the first six general councils." 

The first question which arises is, Who is the judge 
to decide when any sect claiming these conditions 
possesses them \ Surely the sect itself cannot be 
allowed to decide in its own favor. Are the other 
brandies to settle the point ? And if there be only 
two branches, is the biggest one to be the judge? 
There seems to be no other practical method of ar- 
riving at a conclusion. Of course we deny totally 
the whole branch theory, yet let us see how it would 
work. Once the Church of Christ was one, and kept 
in unity until it had held six general councils. Then 
a branch broke off, and the largest fragment of the 
breaking and broken Church decided that the other, 
though possessing the apostolic ministry, had re- 
nounced the doctrine of the Mcene Creed and the six 
general councils, and so was not a branch at all. It 
declared that the Mcene Confession demanded belief 
in one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and 
union with its visible head on earth ; that the six 
general councils recognized the see of Peter as the 
centre of visible unity. Then, according to the theo- 
ry, there was a schism and no branch. No other so- 
lution can be imagined but that of private interpreta- 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 259 

tion of councils and creeds, which would only render 
the difficulty absolutely inexplicable. However, time 
went on, and the Saxon branch broke off in the pure 
hands of Henry and Elizabeth, who roughly tore it 
away. Then the older brandies with one consent de- 
cided that this new branch possessed none of the con- 
ditions ; that it had plainly rejected the Nicene Con- 
fession and the six general councils by its new here- 
tical articles of faith ; and that it had not the apos- 
tolic ministry. Now, according to the theory, is it 
a branch of the One Church % We will not repeat 
here what has already been said in regard to the 
condemnation of Anglican doctrine by the Eastern 
churches. We will simply add that these churches 
have always rejected the pretended English Orders 
as decidedly as has the Catholic Church. Says Dr. 
Overbeck, who is fully competent to speak: "If 
Rome considered all ordinations by Parker and his 
successors — that is, the whole present English epis- 
copate and clergy — to be invalid, null, and void, and 
consistently reordained all those converts who wish- 
ed and were fit for Orders, the Eastern Church can 
but imitate her proceedings, as both follow in this 
point the same principles."* 
No ecclesiastical body, however sunk in schism oc 



* Overbeck, " Catholic Orthodoxy," pp. 70, 71. 



260 



Third Lecture. 



heresy, which possesses an unquestioned priesthood 
has ever taken any other view. Then the Anglican 
Church is proved to be no branch, as not having the 
conditions required by the advocates of the theory. 
So, if you put this theory to work on consistent 
principles, there are no brandies in existence. 

Nearly all the Protestant sects profess in some 
way the Mcene Creed. Is their confession of this 
symbol the faith of the Fathers, the voice of Chris- 
tian antiquity? But let us look for one moment at 
the testimony of the six general councils in regard 
to the supremacy and prerogatives of the see of Pe- 
ter: "It is certain that the sanction of the pope is 
necessary for ensuring infallibility to the decisions 
of a council. Until the pope has sanctioned their 
decrees the assembly of bishops cannot pretend to 
the authority belonging to an oecumenical council, 
however great a number of bishops may compose it, 
for there cannot be an oecumenical council without 
the pope."* This was the doctrine of the councils, 
as their language expresses it. The Third General 
Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431, thus speaks : " Com- 
pelled by the canons and by the letter of our most 
holy father and fellow-servant, Celestine, Bishop of 
Rome, we have come to this sad sentence upon Nes- 

* Hefele, " Christian Councils," L 52. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 261 

torius." " The letter of the Apostolic See to Cyril 
has already set forth the sentence and rule to be 
followed in the case of Nestorias ; and the assembled 
bishops have, in accordance with this judgment, fol- 
lowed up this rale." 

The synodal letter of the Council of Chalcedon, 
a.d. 451, thus addresses Pope Leo: "Thou by thy 
representatives hast taken the lead among the mem- 
bers of the synod, as the head among the members 
of the body." "We acknowledge the whole force 
of the things which have been done, and the confir- 
mation of all that we have accomplished, to be de- 
pendent upon your approval." 

The Sixth (Ecumenical Council, at Constantino- 
ple, a.d. 680, writes to the pope for his sanction, 
and addresses him as the head of the Church and 
the first see of the world. To this council Pope 
Agatho had sent complete exposition of the orthodox 
faith, and prescribed it as a rule for its proceedings. 
The letter of the council has these words : "Through 
that letter from thee we have overcome the heresy 
and have eradicated the guilty by the sentence pre- 
viously brought concerning them through your sa- 
cred letter."* 

The six general councils, then, teach the necessary 



* Hefele, Vol. I., Introduction. 



2G2 



Third Lecture. 



unity of the Church to its visible head, the succes- 
sor of Peter, and therefore condemn the theory of 
branches which are in hopeless war with each other. 

What a theory for a sane man who believes in any 
Church at all as the body of Christ ! Six councils 
are permitted, and then comes division, and the liv- 
ing Church loses its voice and its office ! We hum- 
bly submit that no one really holds such an atro- 
cious travesty of the Gospel of grace. It is only one 
of the many unreal theories by which Protestants 
seek to exercise their private judgment and self- 
will, and palliate their actual denial of the Church 
of Jesus Christ. 

3. Bat, thirdly, these 'brandies already existing, 
and those about to be, are of equal authority, and, 
taken together, whatever their doctrines may be, 
form the one Church. 

The terms of this statement must be admitted, else 
the whole theory falls to the ground. If these 
branches are not of equal authority they could not 
stand, since the condemnation of the greater would 
then excommunicate the others. Now, they excom- 
municate each other ; but, as one is as good as the 
other, the anathema does not avail. So they are all 
excommunicated in one sense, and in another they 
are not excommunicated. They are churches, and 
they are not churches. Neither of the branches 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 263 



is right and neither is wrong. And, taken together, 
no matter how they contradict each other, they 
form one Church. They are not the Church, taken 
singly : they are only branches ; but put together, 
if one could ever put them together, they are the 
Church — the Catholic Church of Jesus Christ. We 
can hardly fail to see the contradictions of this 
system, nor how it accuses the Divine Founder of 
Christianity of falsehood and folly. By it there 
is, in the first place, no Church at all ; secondly, 
the unity of the pretended Church is impossible ; 
and, thirdly, the theoretical Church is utterly use- 
less, and mankind would be better without its ex- 
istence. 

There is really no Church at all ; for the branches 
are not the Church until they are put together, and 
this is actually an impossibility. Men have to get 
along with a branch which is an imperfect kind 
of a Church, helpless of itself and unable to teach 
others. The third or the fourth is not the whole ; 
and as the division is hopeless, there is really no 
Church. Let no one ever dream that the Catholic 
Church in union with Peter will ever coalesce with 
these fragments which it condemns and excommuni- 
cates. As soon might you assimilate light with dark- 
ness, or make of contradictories a harmonious unit. 

Secondly, the unity of the Church of Christ is by 



264 



Third Lecture. 



this theory utterly destroyed. There is no exterior 
oneness in branches which excommunicate each 
other, and there is no possible unity of faith. Be- 
cause these branches teach contrary doctrine they 
are separated ; and they stand opposed to each 
other because they have not the same faith. Could 
they agree in the confession of one faith, they would 
no longer be the enemies of each other. So if the 
Church and body of Jesus Christ has come to this 
hopeless division, the Mcene Creed is a fiction, 
since there is no longer any one, holy, Catholic, and 
Apostolic Church. Common sense and common 
honesty demonstrate this. 

But, thirdly, to what end does a Church exist 
Avhich is thus made up of brandies which mutually 
contradict each other \ Has it any use except to 
mislead men and puzzle and deceive them \ It can 
teach nothing, for it has no voice. It lost its voice 
at the Sixth General Council, and has been dumb 
ever since. Practically it is dead. Men can find 
out the revealed truth in no certain way. There are 
two courses open to them, and both are the ways 
of private judgment, which, in itself always falli- 
ble, is exposed to many errors. They may go back 
to the day when there was one Church, before the 
branches were broken from the Catholic tree. This 
is the safest of the two ways, since the one Church 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 265 

spoke the voice of Christ to its day and generation. 
But this voice, if it speak . anything, bids every 
man to hear the living Church, and tells us that 
the communion of Christ is inviolably one, and ever 
obedient to its visible head, the successor of Peter. 
Then the voice which speaks of Christ will speak of 
His living and undivided and imperishable body. 
If, however, the inquirer trusts in his own lights, 
and applies his self-will and private interpretation to 
history and to the Church of the early age, he may 
make a gospel to suit his fancy, call darkness light, 
and speak of a Church where there is no shadow of 
one. It is as dangerous to apply one's private judg- 
ment to the Fathers and to history as to Scripture. 
The unspeaking page will not respond, and men may 
make of it what they will. They have not thus ar- 
rived at unity of faith, nor will they ever do so. 
Rather, as days go on, they will divide more and 
more, until contradiction is the law of what is 
called Christianity. 

The other way of knowing the truth will be to 
hear the branch to which each one belongs, and 
obey it, as if it were the representative of Christ. 
But this, according to the theory, would be to em- 
brace deadly error. No branch has the whole 
truth, and partial truth is the most dangerous form 
of error. If the High Anglican were to obey his 



2G6 



Third Lecture. 



own Church, he might believe or disbelieve almost 
anything. But he would be the last one to submit 
to such folly. He knows far more than his Church 
knows. He teaches his Church every day what she 
ought to profess, calls her by names she disowns, 
and puts words in her mouth which she abhors. So 
he speaks for her, and she has no authority over 
him. The bishops of the Anglican Church are the 
''successors of the apostles" to the Ritualists, and 
the link to something supernatural which makes 
them a branch of the Catholic Church. If anybody 
can speak for the English Church, it must be the 
bishops. Yet there is nowhere a class of people 
more thoroughly despised and abused. "They 
profess to revere their bishops, and prove their de- 
votion by treating them like dogs. Day after day 
the columns of the Ritualistic journals are filled 
with insults against their spiritual chiefs such as 
the following : ' The Bishop of Gloucester and Bris- 
tol has been maundering in his usual style,' says the 
Church Times. ' The Bishop of London is the tool 
of every clique of Bumbles in his diocese.' The 
Church Herald deplores ' the intemperate and igno- 
rant theological utterances of Lord Arthur Hervey, 
Bishop of Bath and Wells.' The Church jReview, 
after observing that ' Dr. Ellicott adopts the clap- 
trap of the uneducated street-preachers,' and play- 



The Axglicax Theory of the Church. 267 

fully ridiculing his colleague of London as ' the 
Rev. John Jackson, principal of an educational 
establishment at Islington,' gives the following im- 
pressive account of the Anglican bishops in gene- 
ral : 'They actually go knee-deep into the slaver 
poured forth by all the bad popular opinion of a 
heedless and unthinking public, and put on the 
ragged garments which this evil popular opinion 
has provided for them.' " They know more than 
all the world beside, certainly far more than their 
bishops. "They are able to instruct the world as 
to the true nature of Christianity. They have un- 
usual qualifications for the task. The Apostolic 
Sees might easily err in matters of faith, but not 
they. The very object of their creation was to dis- 
cover the mistakes of the Church and correct them. 
We hope our readers will do justice to the Angli- 
can theory." * It would not be right for every one 
to hear his own branch and obey its voice, since 
the half is not the whole, and the branches by 
themselves are not trustworthy. We honestly 
think it would be better and far less perplexing 
to adopt the extreme Protestant doctrine, say 
plainly that there is no Church, and that it is of 
no consequence whether there ever was one or not. 

* " Protestant Journalism," by Dr. Marshall, pp. 171, 189. 



268 



Tried Lecture. 



But the advocates of the branch theory will never 
be persuaded. If one should rise from the dead, 
some would not believe. They prefer to live in the 
land of fiction, where all is unreality, and where at 
any rate they can freely exercise their self-will and 
obey no one. "It is curious," says Dr. Marshall, 
" that while these gentlemen are proving every day, 
to their own entire satisfaction, how utterly the 
Church of Christ, by the divisions and corruptions 
they attribute to her, has forfeited all claim to the 
respect of wise men, they are as busy in discussing 
minor questions, in themselves of very little im- 
portance, as if the Church were without flaw or 
stain, and her authority admitted by all mankind. 
What should be "the pattern and material of a 
pectoral cross," and where that ornament "can be 
bought specially made for priests' wear," who have 
no right to wear it at all, interests them keenly. 
"Should priests or deacons when in choir wear 
the stole over their surplices ?" is a question which 
interests them more deeply than such trifles as her- 
esy or blasphemy. The proper use of a birretta, and 
the correct shape of hoods, are points which claim 
rapturous attention, though separation from Chris- 
tendom is not worth a thought. The "portuary 
or choir services" is a theme which sets in motion 
a torrent of eloquence, on which float such impos- 



The A xg lic Ay The or y of the Church 2G9 

ing words as " the epitrac7ielio?i, which is worn at 
the hours,'' and "the yphelonion" which, it is con- 
soling to know, may be worn when the stoicliarion 
is not to be thought of. One would have thought 
that the poor Church of England might find some- 
thing just now to discuss a little more to the 
purpose than the portuaiy, or even the phelon- 
ion.' ? * 

While the great question of eternal life is to be 
settled, and their own salvation hangs in the bal- 
ance, they will be occupied with trifles. Having 
judged the whole Catholic Church, and particularly 
condemned their own bishops, having no superiors 
to obey, they must dream away the time with some- 
thing. 

According to the branch theory itself, they are 
convicted of heresy, and are condemned as the 
assailants of the most sacred institution of Jesus 
Christ. But those who maintain such an inconsis- 
tent and contradictory theory are not amenable to 
the ordinary laws of reason. Before we leave the 
subject, however, we wish to read them one lesson 
from Christian antiquity. There have been many 
schisms from the Catholic Church during her 
struggle of nineteen centuries. Bishops and priests 



* " Protestant Journalism," p. 192. 



270 



Third Lecture. 



have unfortunately been the leaders in revolt, but 
they have been quickly exposed, and, persevering 
in rebellion, they have been cut off from the unity 
of Christ. The schism of the Donatists began in the 
year 306, and lasted nearly two centuries. At first 
there was no question of doctrine. It was simply 
the excitement of ambition and evil passions on 
account of the consecration of Csecilian, Bishop of 
Carthage. The presbyters who had been instru- 
mental in his election before the arrival of the 
seventy bishops of Numidia, were, through their own 
disappointment, the chief instruments in fomenting 
the schism. An extreme and rigorous party was 
organized against Csecilian, headed by Donatus, 
the Bishop of Casa Nigra. The first step of these 
schismatics was to appeal to the authority of the 
emperor. The emperor referred the matter at once 
to the pope, and Melchiades with twenty bishops, 
at the Lateran in Rome, a.d. 313, after careful 
examination settled the matter in the favor of Cae- 
cilian, and against the Bishop Majorinus, whom the 
party of Donatus had unlawfully set up at Carthage 
in his place. Thus the whole question was deter- 
mined by the lawful ecclesiastical authority. The 
schismatics were, however, unsatisfied, and contin- 
ued their appeals to the civil authority. This was 
the first instance of an appeal from the decisions of 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 271 

bishops to the tribunal of a secular judge.* Latin 
Africa was thus divided, and there were two separate 
parties under two bishops, the one adhering to 
Csecilian, and. the other to Majorinus, and later to 
his successor, Donatus, The sect grew to formidable 
proportions, and finding no encouragement from the 
civil power, and having received the condemnation 
of the Church, it declared itself the true Church, and, 
like all schisms, involved itself in heretical doctrine. 

The Donatists attacked the validity of Cse- 
cilian's consecration, and asserted that after the 
synod of Aries the Catholic Church had ceased to 
be the true Church, that valid sacraments existed 
only in the one Catholic Church, which they de- 
clared themselves to be. So widely spread was their 
schism that at the Council of Carthage, in 411, there 
were present two hundred and seventy -nine Do- 
natist bishops with two hundred and eighty-six 
Catholic bishops. Before this council St. Augus- 
tine appeared, and, while the schism was fully con- 
demned, the most earnest efforts were made for the 
reconciliation of the heretics to the unity of Christ. 
Some success crowned these efforts, but the schism 
itself was not entirely extinct even in the reign of 
Gregory the Great. 



* Alzog, I. 512. 



272 



Tried Leo tube. 



Here was a schism with unquestioned Orders ; and 
in its beginning it was not stained with the direct 
denial of any Catholic doctrine. We have seen 
what the Church decided in regard to the abettors 
of this schism. Let us now listen to the words of 
St. Optatus of Milevis and St. Augustine : 

" You, Parmenianus (a Donatist bishop), have said 
that the Church is one to the exclusion of heretics ; 
but you have not chosen to acknowledge where that 
Church is. It is for me to state which or where is 
that one Church, since besides that one there is none 
other. You have said that with heretics the marks 
of the Church cannot be ; and you say truly, for we 
know that the churches of every one of the heretics 
are prostituted ; are without any lawful sacraments, 
and without the rights of an honorable marriage ; 
churches which Christ repudiates as unnecessary, 
He being the spouse of one Church, as in the Canti- 
cles Himself testifies ; who in that He praises one 
condemns all others ; because, besides the one which 
is the true Catholic Church, others are reckoned as 
being among heretics, though they exist not, agree- 
ably to that which He points out, that one is His 
dove, and that same one His chosen spouse, the same 
a garden enclosed, and a fountain sealed up ; as none 
of the heretics have the keys which Peter alone re- 
ceived, or the ring with which the fountain is said 



The Anglican Theory of the Ohurch. 273 

to be sealed up ; nor is there any of them to whom 
that garden belongs wherein God plants His shoots. 
But I wonder what you were at, to join yourselves 
also to them, you who are manifestly schismatics, 
and yet to deny the marks of the Church both to 
heretics and to yourselves who are schismatics. For 
you have among other things said that schismatics 
are like branches cut off from the vine ; that, doomed 
to punishment, they are reserved like dry wood for 
the fire of hell. But I perceive that you are igno- 
rant that a schism was made by your leaders at 
Carthage. Seek into the origin of these things, and 
you will find that you have pronounced this sentence 
against yourselves when you united heretics with 
schismatics. For it was not Csecilian that went out 
from your ancestor Majorinus, but Majorinus from 
Csecilian ; neither did Csecilian withdraw from the 
chair of Peter or of Cyprian, but Majorinus did, 
whose chair you occupy, which chair, antecedently 
to Majorinus, had no original. And as it is most 
plain that these things were thus transacted, it evi- 
dently appears that you are the heirs of traitors and 
schismatics. In Africa, as in the other provinces, 
there was but one Church prior to its being divid- 
ed by the ordinations of Majorinus, in whose chair 
you sit as heir. We have to see who remained in 
the root with the whole world ; who went out ; who 



274 



Third Lecture. 



established another chair which till then had no ex- 
istence ; who set up altar against altar ; who gave 
ordination while the one already ordained was still 
living ; who lies under sentence of John the Apostle, 
who said that many Antichrists would go out, ' be- 
cause,' said he, ' they were not of us, for if they had 
been of us they would have remained with us.' Ac- 
knowledge, then, that as it is undeniable that your 
predecessors were the authors of this other crime of 
schism, so you also are striving to follow in their 
wicked footsteps. They in their day broke the 
peace ; you utterly annihilate unity ; of your fore- 
fathers and of you it may be said with justice, ' If 
the blind lead the blind, they both fall into the pit.' 
A frantic envy blinded the eyes of your predecessors ; 
a spirit of rivalry has put out yours. That schism 
is the very greatest of evils even you cannot possibly 
deny. And yet you have fearlessly imitated your 
abandoned masters, Dathan, and Abiron, and Core. 
And because now no such vengeance is taken, do 
you claim for yourself and your party impunity 
from guilt ? God has in individual cases made ex- 
amples, thereby to fix on all imitators their guilt ; 
a present punishment, to serve as a warning, crush- 
ed the first instance of each kind of sin ; all that 
follow He will reserve unto the judgment. What 
will you say to this, you who, after usurping the 



The Axglicax Theory of the Church. 2T5 

name of a Church, both secretly feed and shameless- 
ly defend a schism \ 

"Understand, then, that you are undutiful chil- 
dren ; that you are tendrils cut off from the vine, 
that you are a stream separated from its fountain- 
head. For a stream that is small, and does not 
spring from itself, cannot be a fountain source, nor 
a lopped branch be a tree ; since a tree flourishes, 
resting on its own roots, and if a branch be cut off 
it withers. Seest thou now, Parmenianus, that in 
thine arguments thou hast fought against thyself? 
Since it has been shown that through the chair 
of Peter, which is ours, that through it the other 
marks are also with us." * 

The following are among the words of St. Augus- 
tine : "These testimonies do we produce from the 
Holy Scriptures, that it may be seen that it is not 
easy for anything to be more grievous than the sac- 
rilege of schism, because there is no just cause for 
severing unity." "We are, therefore, to inquire 
who has charity : you will find it is they alone who 
love unity. And as we are inquiring where the 
Church of Christ is, let us hear Him who redeemed 
it with His own blood : ' You shall be witnesses 
unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Sama- 

* St. Optatus, "De Schism. Donat.," L. I. II. 



270 



Third Lecture. 



ria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.' 
With this Church which is diffused throughout the 
whole earth, whoso communicates not, with whom 
he communicates not thou seest, if thou dost but 
understand whose words these are. But what is 
more mad than to be partakers of the sacraments 
of the Lord, and not to be partakers of the words of 
the Lord? These, in truth, will have to say, ' In 
Thy name have we eaten and drunk ' ; and they will 
have to hear, 'I know you not.' They eat and 
drink His body and blood in the sacrament, and 
they recognize not in the Gospel His members dif- 
fused over the whole world, and for this cause they 
are not numbered among them at the judgment." 
"The question between us undoubtedly is, Where 
is the Church ? Whether with us or with them 
(Donatists) % That Church assuredly is one which our 
ancestors called the Catholic, that they might show 
by the name itself that it is throughout the whole. 
But this Church is the body of Christ, as the apostle 
says, 'His body, which is the Church, whence, cer- 
tainly, it is manifest that he who is not in the mem- 
bers of Christ cannot have Christian salvation." * 

The decisions of the Church and the language of 
the Christian Fathers are in perfect harmony. What 



* T. IX. Lib. II. Contr. Ep. Parmen. 



The Anglican Theory of the Church. 277 

would these Fathers have said to a national Estab- 
lishment tied hand and foot to a heretical State, 
without Orders and sacraments, and thoroughly 
identified with the Protestant movement, whose one 
end is the destruction of the Catholic Church? 
They cannot speak in more telling words than those 
they have uttered. Would to God that their voice 
might be heard in the liturgy of the triumphant 
assembly of saints, where, in the unity of the One 
Body of the Word Incarnate, they behold the essence 
of the one God, and are changed into the image of 
Him on whose humanity they feed ! Where reason 
fails the voice of prayer may prevail. The deaf may 
yet hear and the blind may see ; and'when the scales 
of error and sin fall from the darkened eye, then 
shall come the vision of everlasting peace, the home 
of realities, the temple of faith. For though man 
in his pride has striven to mar the work of divine 
love, and tear in pieces the body of his Lord, yet 
the word of the Almighty shall not fail, and God the 
Father will not allow a bone to be broken. There is 
the scourge, there is the crown of thorns, there is 
the cross, there are the nails and the spear ; but the 
body of the Bridegroom is in its untouched unity. 
There is " one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one 
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who 
is above all, and through all, and in us all." 



Lecture Fourth. 



THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE CONCERNING 
THE CHURCH 



Lecture Fourth. 



THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE CHURCH. 



"And there came one of the seven angels, and spoke with me, 
saying : Come, and I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb.'* 
— Apocalypse xxi. 9. 



E turn now from the contemplation of error, with 



its contradictions, to the light of the truth. 
Before we close this brief series of discourses, we 
will refresh our hearts and enlighten our minds with 
the realities of that holy Church which Jesus Christ 
has founded. This Church is worthy the divine 
wisdom which formed and sustains her ; and the 
glories which shine on her are the glories of the in- 
carnate God, full of grace and truth. He who, by 
the operation of the Holy Ghost, framed in the womb 
of the ever-blessed Virgin the body of His consub- 
stantial Son, has also magnified His power in the 
mystical body of the Word made flesh. All is divine 
in this most wonderful work of grace. In our high- 




281 



282 



Fovuth Lecture. 



est conceptions of the goodness of God we could 
have never asked of the benignant love of the Trinit}' 
such a condescension of mercy, snch a prodigal dis- 
play of exalted perfection. Blessed was the patri- 
archal Church, where the father represented to the 
family the majesty of " the Ancient of Days," and 
was for his children prophet, priest, and king. Glo- 
rious was the Jewish theocracy, where the God of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was enthroned between 
the cherubim, and the mountain of the law burned 
with fire at the sound of the trumpet, and with the 
raging of the whirlwind, the darkness, and the 
storm.* "But if the ministration of death was glo- 
rious, much more doth the ministration of the Spirit 
abound in glory, "f For behold, " the glory of the 
King' s daughter is within, where the King, the Lord 
God, whom nations adore, greatly desires her beau- 
ty." % This is no vision of mere men surrounded 
with the splendors of deity. It is the One body of 
Christ Himself, who, being one, hath many members. 
"For in one Spirit were we all baptized into this one 
body, and in one Spirit have we all been made to 
drink." § It is "the city of the living God, the 
heavenly Jerusalem, the Church of the first-born," 



* Hebrews xii. 18, 19. 
\% Cor. iii. 7-9. 



\ Psalm xliv. 10-12. 
§ 1 Cor. xii. 13. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 283 

the goodly company of the spirits of the just, in 
which abides Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testa- 
ment, with the precious blood flowing from His hu- 
man heart, speaking life and pardon. * It is His 
own precious body, which is His fulness, where man 
and God are made one, and the glory of the consub- 
stantial Son is given to the just, that they may be 
one, even as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one. 
The Word Incarnate is in them, and the Father is in 
the Word, that they may be made perfect in one, 
and that the world may bear its testimony to the 
perfect work of Jesus Christ. f Well, then, may the 
glad anthem of praise go up to the mediatorial throne: 
" To Him who sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, 
benediction, and honor, and power, and glory for 
ever and ever." % "Behold the tabernacle of God 
is with men, and He will dwell with them." "The 
New Jerusalem is prepared as a bride adorned for her 
husband." § Send forth, then, O God my strength, 
" Thy light and Thy truth ; they have conducted me 
and brought me unto Thy holy hill and into Thy 
tabernacles." % U I will wash my hands among the 
innocent, and will compass Thine altar, O Lord ; 
that I may hear the voice of Thy praise, and tell of 



* Hebrews xii. 22, 24. § Apocalypse xxi. 2, 3. 

t St. John xvii. 21, 23. H Psalm xlii. 3. 

X Apocalypse v. 13. 



284 



Fourth Lecture. 



all Thy wondrous works. I have loved, O Lord, the 
beauty of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory 
dwelleth." * 

In contemplating the Church we enter into the 
divine counsels and behold God in His work, not like 
the things of earth which His omnipresence upholds, 
but in that which is nearest to Himself, being, in 
truth, the manifestation of Himself among the sons 
of men. The most wonderful of all His creations is 
the sacred humanity which is joined in hypostatic 
union to His consubstantial Son. The Church which 
is His body is filled with the splendor of that hu- 
manity, as the one company of those whom that hu- 
manity feeds and glorifies. It is in the Church that 
we behold the manifold wisdom of God ; and the way 
of our salvation is the wonderful plan by which God 
and man are made one. 

To set forth in few words the Catholic doctrine 
concerning the Church, we will consider — 

I. The nature of the Christian Church as a divine 

society ; 

II. The characteristics of its constitution ; 

III. The nature of its unity; 

IY. The sanctity which flows from its nature ; 



* Psalm xxv. 6-8 



Catholic Do ctrine concerning the Church. 285 

Y. The ends which the Church accomplishes ; and 
VI. The sphere of its operations. 



I. 

The Nature of the Church as a divine Society. 

We have already seen that the Church was found- 
ed by our Lord Jesus Christ, and that its institution 
was part of His manifestation on earth, the conse- 
quence of His incarnation, and the expression of His 
redemption. It is essentially a society of men bound 
together in the profession of one and the same faith, 
spiritually nourished by the communion of the same 
sacraments, and obedient to the same pastors under 
one visible head. All these parts of the definition 
are necessary to the true Church of Christ, which is 
essentially one external and visible society. Infidels 
are excluded from this communion — both those who 
were never in the fold, and those who by reason of 
heresy have separated themselves from it. Partici- 
pation in the sacraments is a condition of the mutual 
and spiritual life which vivifies the Church ; and sub- 
jection to the legitimate priesthood under the su- 
preme visible head is a test of membership. For the 
Divine Founder Himself, the One God, has necessa- 



286 



Fourth Lecture. 



rily followed the divine law of unity in this His 
gracious and wonderful institution. 

This society is, then, divine, though composed of 
men on their probation for eternity, since it comes 
from the hand of God, and bears the marks of His 
wisdom. It is also divine by reason of its end, the 
graces which it possesses, and the intimate union 
which subsists between it as a whole, and all its 
members, and its head, Christ Jesus. Coming from 
God, it is united to God, is endowed with the 
riches flowing from the divine nature, and bears 
its children to the beatific glory, the vision of the 
Trinity. It is, then, a spiritual society, though visi- 
ble, since the Holy Ghost animates it ; and it is di- 
vinely enriched with the power of sanctifying its 
members with the grace of Christ, whose purpose 
is to bring His children to complete union with 
Himself in glory. It is a supernatural society, be- 
cause its origin, the means it employs, the end it 
seeks are all above nature, and flow from the bounty 
of God, who, in the beginning having raised man 
to a state of grace, through His indulgent mercy 
has proposed in Christ to restore him to the gifts 
forfeited by his fall. These gifts, which raise the 
Church to the rank of a spiritual and supernatural 
communion, do not in any way take from its visi- 
bility. It is still the same company of men whose 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 287 

endowments are seen by faitli and known to God. 
Thus the door of entrance is baptism, a visible sac- 
rament ; the external profession of one faith is the 
principal condition of membership ; there is an ex- 
ternal priesthood, a hierarchy under one chief pas- 
tor ; there is the law of exterior obedience ; and there 
are the sacraments, which are the outward and visi- 
ble signs of sanctifying graces. Thus the Church 
is like unto Christ, her founder and original. As 
He was God of God, though only seeming to hu- 
man eyes to be man ; so is she all divine, though 
she seem to sense to be earthly. She bears the im- 
age of her incarnate Lord. So, as the theologians 
teach us, the Church is constituted, as it were, of 
a body and a soul. The visible element is called 
the body ; the spiritual and supernatural, the soul. 
" Thus Jesus Christ, God and Man, willed to leave 
in His Church a perfect image or similitude of Him- 
self, in which and by which He might be seen to 
live in a certain manner with us, and to hold con- 
verse with us, after His visible ascension into heaven. 
This Church so representing Christ is a divine and 
human societ}^, subsisting as in the unity of a per- 
son with the communication of both natures, by 
which the divine element pervades and penetrates 
the human element, guides and governs it, nourishes 
and informs it, and makes of both natures a unity. 



288 



Fourth Lecture. 



That which is divine in this moral person or society- 
constitutes its intimate part or soul ; that, however, 
which is human constitutes its exterior form or visi- 
ble body, which the soul uses as an organ for its 
exterior manifestation. Hence the Church is one, 
as Christ is one ; holy, as Christ is holy ; indefecti- 
ble, as Christ is indefectible ; infallible, as Christ is 
infallible, who has willed that she should be a liv- 
ing and perfect image of Himself. Thus the Word 
made flesh by her perpetuates Himself on earth, 
even to the consummation of the world ; so that 
what He has of his own nature, this He communi- 
cates by grace to His chosen daughter or spouse." * 
So the Church truly is the likeness of the Incar- 
nation, and is called, not in figure but in reality, 
Christ's body. "He hath subjected all things un- 
der His feet, and hath made Him head over all the 
Church, which is His body." f "No man ever hated 
his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as 
also Christ doth the Church; because we are mem 
bers of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones." % 
"Thus the visible Church, from this point of view, 
is the Son of God Himself, everlastingly manifest- 
ing Himself among men in a human form, per- 

* Perrone, cap. ii. " De Ecclesia." f Ephes. i. 22. 

X Ephes. v. 30. 



OA T HO LIC D CTR INE CO XCER NING THE Oil UR OH. 289 

pefcually renovated and eternally young, the perma- 
nent incarnation of the same, as in Holy Scripture 
even the faithful are called the body of Christ. 
Hence it is evident that the Church, though com- 
posed of men, is yet not purely human. Nay, as in 
Christ the divinity and humanity are to be clear- 
ly distinguished, though both are bound in unity ; 
so is He in undivided entireness perpetuated in 
the Church. The Church, His permanent manifes- 
tation, is at once divine and human ; she is the 
union of both. He it is who, concealed under earth- 
ly and human forms, works in the Church ; and this 
is wherefore she has a divine and a human part in 
an undivided mode, so that the divine cannot be 
separated from the human, nor the human from 
the divine. Hence these two parts change their 
predicates. If the divine, the living Christ and 
His Spirit, constitute undoubtedly that which is 
infallible and inerrable in the Church, so also the 
human is infallible and inerrable in the same way ; 
because the divine without the human has no ex- 
istence for us ; yet the human is not inerrable in 
itself, but only as the organ and manifestation of 
the divine. In and through the Church the redemp - 
tion announced by Christ has obtained, through the 
medium of His Spirit, a reality ; for in her His truths 
are believed and His institutions are observed, and 



290 



Fourth Lecture. 



thereby have become living. Accordingly we can 
say of the Church that she is the Christian religion 
in its objective form, its living exposition. Since 
the word of Christ, together with His Spirit, found 
its way into a circle of men, and was received by 
them, it has taken shape, lias put on flesh and 
blood ; and this shape is the Church, which is the 
essential form of the Christian religion itself." * 

To the soul or supernatural part of the Church per- 
tain sanctifying grace, which is the formal principle 
of the spiritual life ; faith, hope, and charity, which 
always accompany sanctifying grace ; other super- 
natural virtues, as well as interior actual grace, with- 
out which a supernatural operation is impossible ; 
and all the gifts of the Holy Ghost, by which sanctity 
and spiritual activity are increased and rendered effi- 
cacious. To these ordinary gifts are to be added the 
graces which sustain the Church and her priesthood 
in the work of applying the redemption. So the 
apostle sums up the interior glories of the city of 
God: "There are diversities of graces, but the 
same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministries, 
but the same Lord. And there are diversities of 
operations, but the same God, who worketh all in all. 
And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every 



* Moehler, 14 Symbolism, p. 333. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 291 

man to profit. To one indeed by the Spirit is given 
the word of wisdom ; and to another the word of 
knowledge, according to the same Spirit ; to another, 
faith in the same Spirit ; to another, the grace of 
healing in one Spirit ; to another, the working of 
miracles ; to another, prophecy ; to another, the 
discerning of spirits ; to another, diverse kinds of 
tongues ; to another, interpretation of speeches. But 
all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, 
dividing to every one according as He wills. For as 
the body is one and hath many members, and all the 
members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are 
one body ; so also is Clirist. For in one Spirit were 
we all baptized into one body ; and in one Spirit we 
have all been made to drink. Now, you are the body 
of Christ, and members of member."* The life of the 
Church, flowing from Christ and the possession of 
His Spirit, becomes creating in the sacraments which 
perpetuate the priesthood, confer regenerating grace, 
remit sin, preach the saving word, offer the adorable 
Sacrifice of the New Law, and guide the children 
of the fold to one common end, to sanctification and 
perfection. Thus in all things the just "grow up in 
Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the 
whole body being compacted and fitly joined to- 



* 1 Cor. xii. 4^27. 



292 



Fourth Lecture. 



gether, by what every joint supplietli, according to 
the measure of every part, maketh increase of the 
body unto the edifying of itself in charity." * For 
the life and sanctity of the Church do not only 
consist of passive sanctity in the holiness of its 
members ; but also show forth from their celestial 
fountain a supernatural activity leading those within 
the fold to higher fruits of faith, and also winning 
aliens to the knowledge of the truth as it is re- 
vealed in her. 

The body of the Church is her visible side as she 
appears to the eyes of men. The members of the 
Church are visible men who by external signs are 
aggregated to her fold. They are bound together by 
one discipline, in obedience to one hierarchy, who are 
also one by unity to one visible head. To the body 
of the Church belong all the exterior signs of grace 
which are the outward manifestation of her life ; the 
preaching of the word, the administration of the 
sacraments, the rites which express her outward wor- 
ship or convey her spiritual power. Throughout the 
whole of her exterior ceremonial the light of the Di- 
vine Spirit illumines the hearts of men, and glorifies 
itself in the perpetual vigor of the apostolic ministry 
which, according to the promise of the Lord, will 



* Ephes. iv. 15, 16. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 293 

for ever abide in her, day by day confirming the just, 
and leading sinners and the unbelieving to repent- 
ance.* 

Such is the holy Church of Jesus Christ, coming 
from His hands, a society of men indeed, but also 
the tabernacle of the Divine Spirit, in the likeness of 
one personality, representing the Word made flesh, 
as His permanent incarnation upon earth. Far more 
glorious, then, is this Church than the ancient cove, 
nant which was only its type and adumbration. 
"The ministration of justice far exceeds the old law 
in glory." It is the fulness of the riches of God, 
the accomplishment of all the prophets predicted, 
the last and complete revelation of redeeming mercy. 
Unlike the synagogue, which embraced only one peo- 
ple, it opens its doors to all nations, and is for all 
time, pouriug from its ample treasures the graces 
which Moses and the law only shadowed forth by 
significant rites. The incarnate God not only found- 
ed this Church, but he filled it with the attributes of 
His humanity. " God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee 
with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows." f "It 
is like the precious ointment on the head that ran 
down upon the beard of Aaron, which ran down to 
the skirt of his garment : as the dew of Hermon, or 



* Mazzella, "De Ecclesia," Art. II. 



f Heb. i . 9. 



294 



Fourth Lecture. 



that, which descendeth upon Mount Zion ; for there 
the Lord hath commanded blessing and life for ever- 
more." * To this purport are the words of the Vati- 
can Council : "God through His only-begotten Son 
did establish the Church, and place upon her mani- 
fest marks of His institution, that all men might be 
able to recognize her as the guardian and teacher of 
His revealed word. For only to the Catholic Church 
do all these signs belong which have been divinely 
disposed, so many in number and so wonderful in 
character, for the purpose of making evident the 
credibility of the Christian faith ; nay, more, the 
very Church herself, in view of her wonderful propa- 
gation, her eminent holiness, and her exhaustless 
fruitfulness in all that is good, her Catholic unity, 
and her unshaken stability, offers a great and evi- 
dent claim to belief, and an undeniable proof of her 
divine commission." f 

Although our Divine Lord founded His Church in 
the likeness of His own humanity, with the visible 
and the invisible part, the body and the soul, still 
does the Church subsist as in the unity of one person. 
It cannot be wholly invisible, for then the essential 
nature of the Church would be destroyed ; nor can 
there be two churches, one visible and the other 

* Psalm cxxxii. f Vatican Council, Const. Dei Films, cap. iii, 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 295 

invisible. For as the body and soul do not make 
two men, but are two essential elements constituting 
one man, so that if there were no body there would 
be no man ; so the visible and invisible elements do 
not make two but one Church, in such manner that 
if either element were wanting there would no longer 
be any Church of Christ. The visibility of the 
Church is therefore essential to its existence as it 
came from the mind and hand of its Founder. It is 
a visible temple "built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being 
the chief corner-stone, in whom all the building, 
being framed together, groweth up into a holy tem- 
ple in the Lord ; in whom we also are built together 
into an habitation of God in the Spirit." * So is the 
Church called by the Scriptures the bride of the 
Lamb, and the Christian Fathers do not hesitate to 
magnify this relation of intimate union, which is far 
stronger than any nuptial tie. " She is the bride 
adorned for her husband, clothed with fine linen, 
glittering and white, the justifications of the saints, "f 
And they who are her children are called to the mar- 
riage-supper of the Lamb. 

She is also pervaded and made fruitful by the 
Holy Ghost in such a manner that this Divine Spirit 



*Ephes. ii. 20-22. 



f Apoc. xix. 8, 9. 



296 



Fourth Lecture. 



is called her heart "The head," says St. Thomas, 
"has a manifest eminence in respect to the other 
members of the body ; bnt the heart has an unseen 
influence. And so the Holy Ghost is compared to 
the heart, which invisibly vivifies and unites the 
Church ; but Christ Himself is compared to the 
head on account of that visible nature by which He 
is a man among men." * 

So as the Church is the body of Christ, there is a 
perpetual union between Him, as the head, and 
His members. " I am the vine," said He ; "you are 
the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, 
the same beareth much fruit." f Here ti e faith- 
ful who constitute the Church are to Christ as the 
branches to the vine from which they draw their 
vital force. Thus St. Thomas explains this inti- 
mate relation of which our Lord speaks : "As 
the whole Church is called one mystical body, by 
likeness to the natural body of man, which in 
different members hath different offices ; so Christ 
is called the head of the Church, according to the 
similitude of the human head. In this representa- 
tion are signified order, perfection, and virtue. In 
order the head is the first part of man, and has the 
principality among all the members of the body. 



* Part III. Quaest. viii. 



f St. John xv. 5. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 297 

In the head is the perfection of the human frame, 
since there, as in a centre, live ail the exterior and 
interior senses, while the other members possess 
only the sense of touch. In the head also resides 
the force which governs all the movements of the 
members and guides their actions. 

" So is Christ the head, possessing in all things the 
principality ; and all who have received grace have 
received it in and through Him. So says the 
Apostle: 'Whom He foreknew He also predesti- 
nated to be made conformable to the image of His 
Son, that He might be the first-born among many 
brethren.' * The perfection of the Church also 
flows from Christ, who in Himself possesses the ful- 
ness of all graces and all spiritual perception. And, 
lastly, the life of Christ flows to all who are His 
members, and of His fulness we all receive." f 
The likeness to the human body is still more per- 
fect, as the apostle has fully taught us. As all the 
members of the body have not the same perfection 
nor discharge the same office, though all concur to 
the common good of the one man, so all the mem- 
bers of the Church do not possess the same gifts. 
"God hath set the members every one of them in 
the body as it hath pleased Him. If they were all 



* Rom. viii. 29. 



\ " Summa," Pars III. Quasst. viii. 



298 



Fourth Lecture. 



one member, where would be the body? But now 
there are many members indeed, but yet there is 
one body." * "Are all apostles \ Are all prophets % 
Are all doctors % So there are diversities of graces, 
but the same Spirit." The gifts of grace are not 
given in equal measure, and all the members are 
not joined in the same intimate perfection to Christ, 
the head. "He is indeed the head of all men, but 
in different degrees. First, He is principally the 
head of those who are actually united to Him in 
glory ; secondly, of those who are actually united to 
Him by charity ; thirdly, of those who are actually 
united to Him by faith." f 

"For the Church is a living body in which are 
united the soul and the body by an intimate union 
of life. To the soul belong the internal gifts of the 
Spirit, faith, hope, and charity. To the body belong 
the external profession of faith and the participa- 
tion of the sacraments. Hence it happens that some 
belong both to the body and soul of the Church, and 
are united to Christ, the head, internally and exter- 
nally ; and such most perfectly belong to the divine 
Church of Christ as its living members. Even these 
do not possess the spiritual life flowing from the 
head in the same degree, and there are those who 



* 1 Cor. xii, 



f St. Thomas, Pars III. Quaest. iii. A. 3. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 299 

have only the beginning of life, and, as it were, sen- 
sation without motion, as those who have faith alone 
without charity." * Finally, there are those who 
belong to the body and not to the soul of the 
Church — those who have lost their spiritual life, 
though professing outwardly the faith, and even re- 
ceiving the sacraments from the lawful priesthood. 
We behold, therefore, the Church set before us by 
the incarnate Word, as the representation of Him- 
self, possessing His graces, animated with His pres- 
ence, speaking His gospel. It is Christ to us with 
all His fulness of grace and truth. It is a divine 
society formed after the likeness of His human ho&y, 
and, as in the unity of one person, vitalized by the 
flesh which is in hypostatic union to the Gfodhead. 



II. 

The Characteristics of the Constitution of 
the Church. 

Let us now look more closely at the constitution of 
this Church, that we may better appreciate the work 
of Christ and the perfection which belongs to this 
similitude of His incarnation. It is a society of men 



* Mazzella, " De Ecclesia," Art. II. § 421. 



300 



Fourth Lecture. 



who are aggregated together by visible signs which, 
from the divine power, are able to effect wonder- ' 
fnl spiritual changes. These signs or sacraments, 
though they leave unchanged the outward appear- 
ance of man, yet transform his whole inner life. 

But of the members so aggregated into one com- 
pany there are differences which not only affect 
their condition in respect to the invisible head, 
Jesus Christ, but also communicate different powers 
and establish different offices. The many members 
have not the same office. "God, indeed, hath set 
some in the Church, first apostles, secondly pro- 
phets, thirdly doctors." * "He gave some apostles, 
and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some 
pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints, 
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
body of Christ ; until we all meet into the unity of 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto 
a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the 
fulness of Christ." f The priesthood and hierarchy 
of the Church arise before our eyes as the essential 
feature of that body of which Christ is the head. 
The holy Council of Trent teaches that "sacrifice 
and priesthood are, by the ordinance of God, in such 
wise conjoined as that both have existed in every 



1 Cor. xii. 28. 



f Ephes. iv. 11-13. 



Ca tholic Doc trine concerning the Cm ur ch. 301 

law. Whereas, therefore, in the New Testament 
the Catholic Church has received, from the institu- 
tion of Christ, the holy visible sacrifice of the Eucha- 
rist ; it must needs also be confessed that there is in 
that Church a new, visible, and external priesthood. 
If any one affirm that all Christians indiscrimi- 
nately are priests of the ISTew Testament, or that they 
are all mutually endowed with an equal spiritual 
powerj he clearly does nothing but confound the 
ecclesiastical hierarchy, which is as an army set in 
array ; as if, contrary to the doctrine of the blessed 
Paul, all were apostles, all prophets, all evangelists, 
all pastors, all doctors." So the holy synod declares 
the establishment of the external and visible priest- 
hood by Jesus Christ, and that there are other 
Orders, both greater and minor, by which, as by cer- 
tain steps, advance is made unto the priesthood. 
" Besides the other ecclesiastical degrees, bishops, 
who have succeeded to the place of the apostles, 
principally belong to the hierarchical order, and are 
placed, as the apostle says, by the Holy Ghost, to 
rule the Church of God." * This hierarchy and 
priesthood are, like the Church, constituted on the 
principle of a divine unity. The priesthood is one, 
and the bishops called by sux)ernatural grace to rule 



* Con. Trent, Sess. XXIII. 



303 



Fourth Lecture. 



the Church of God are of necessity in union with 
their visible head, the Roman Pontiff, the successor 
of Peter and Vicar of Christ. The Roman Pontiff is 
the head of the hierarchy, who are nothing without 
him, as he has received from Christ Himself, and not 
from the Church, that power by which he feeds the 
lohole flock and is the head of the whole Church. 
So, according to the words of St. Cyprian, "the 
people united to the priest, and the flock keeping 
close to the shepherd, are the Church, which is one 
and Catholic, and is neither separated nor divided, 
bat is truly connected and cemented by the adhesive 
power of the priesthood united within itself." * 
This distinction of laity and priesthood, of the 
flock and the shepherds, is the essential consti- 
tution of the Christian Church. And as the 
society is divine, supernatural, and spiritual, so is 
the priesthood divine also, and possessed of the 
sublime powers delegated by the invisible head, 
the Son of Gfod. The hierarchy is also the prin- 
ciple and source of unity, like the network of 
nerves in the human body, ramifying in all direc- 
tions to the extremest parts, and giving unity of 
will, action, and sympathy. And that it may be this 
effectual cause of union among the members of the 



* Ep. LXIX. ad Pupianum. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 303 

Church, it mast of necessity have a unity proper to 
itself. Thus the one Divine Founder of Christianity, 
the King of kings and Pontiff of pontiffs, ordained 
that His Church should be preserved in her unity, 
and governed not by a multitudinous college of 
bishops equal in power and jurisdiction, which 
would have been the destruction of unity, but by 
one bishop of bishops, His vicar on earth, the 
column of the temple, the one universal pastor, from 
whose chair all jurisdiction should flow, as from one 
centre, source, and fountain, to the rest of the 
Catholic episcopate, and thence to the priesthood. 
They who do not see this unity of the hierarchy in 
the see of Peter have no just conception of the 
nature of the priesthood, nor of the divine constitu- 
tion of Christ' s Church. 

That the Christian priesthood is of divine institu- 
tion, and that the Roman Pontiff is the visible head 
of the whole Church, the pastor of the episcopate as 
well as of the people, are facts abundantly estab- 
lished by Holy Scripture and tradition. 

1. Our blessed Lord of His disciples called twelve, 
whom He named apostles, and to them He gave the 
gifts of the priesthood, with power to perpetuate 
their line and communicate their consecration to 
others. " All power is given to me in heaven and on 
earth. Going, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing 



304 



Fo ur th Lecture. 



them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost ; and behold, I am with you all 
days, even to the consummation of the world.]' * 
"Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be 
bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever you shall 
loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven." f 
"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven 
them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are 
retained." % And in the institution of the adorable 
Eucharist, when the Lord changed the bread and 
wine into His body and blood, He gave them the 
power to do what He had done: "Do this for a 
commemoration of me." § 

These gifts which were solemnly given to the apos- 
tles made them the priests of the New Law which 
Jesus Christ erected in the place of the Old Testa- 
ment, which had fulfilled its mission. They received 
the Holy Ghost for their work and office, not simply 
the grace of aggregation to the flock of the Good 
Shepherd, but also of consecration to a share in His 
priestly life. " No man taketh this honor to himself, 
but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So 
Christ also did not glorify Himself, that He might 
be made a high-priest, but He that said unto Him, 



* St. Matt, xxviii. 18-20. 
f St. Matt, xviii. 18. 



% St. John xx. 23. 
§ St. Luke xxii. 19. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 305 

Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten Thee." * 
The powers which the apostles received were to he 
perpetuated, since they were given for the salvation 
of all generations ; and in this work of the regenera- 
tion of mankind our Lord had promised to be with 
them all days. Moreover, the priesthood is essential 
to the Church ; and as the mission of the Church is 
to all the world and all time, so is the mission of the 
priesthood. The Church, as we have seen, is the 
body of Christ, endowed with the divine life, and, 
therefore, must abide to the end in all the essentials 
of her constitution. So the apostles, under the guid- 
ance of St. Peter, built the Church upon her strong 
foundation, and everywhere ordained bishops and 
priests who should continue their work of evangel- 
izing the earth. Such are the manifest facts of Chris- 
tian antiquity. "Neglect not," said St. Paul to 
Timothy, "the grace which is in thee, which was 
given thee by prophecy with imposition of the 
hands of the priesthood." "Stir up the grace of 
God which is in thee by the imposition of my 
hands." f Thus writes St. Clement of Rome, a.d. 
68: "The apostles have preached to us from the 
Lord Jesus Christ ; Jesus Christ from God. . Preach- 
ing through countries and cities, they appointed 



* Heb. v. 4, 5. 



f 1 Timothy iv. 14; 2 Tim. i. 6. 



306 



Fourth Lecture. 



their first-fruits bishops and deacons. Having a 
perfect foreknowledge, they appointed these, and 
then gave direction in what manner, when they 
should die, other approved men should succeed them 
in their ministry."* 

2. We can, however, gain no idea of the Church 
unless we understand the functions of its visible 
head, the successor of Peter in the Roman See. 
For the Church is essentially a monarchy, differing 
indeed, in many respects, from human monarchies, 
but far more excellent than they, even as its king- 
dom transcends the sphere of earth. In human 
monarchies the king rules by his supreme authority. 
In the Christian Church it is the vicar of the King 
that rules in the place of the invisible Lord, who 
still governs and sanctifies His body, and in this 
office endures for ever in an everlasting priesthood. 
It is Christ who perfects the sacraments, who remits 
sin, who offers Himself upon the altar ; and, never- 
theless, as He is not visibly present with us, He has 
chosen a ministry by which He exercises His saving 
office. So in His place He has committed the care 
of the universal Church to one who represents Him 
before men, and is commissioned to feed His whole 
flock. " As it is necessary that in the human body 



* St. Clement, T. Ep. ad Cor. 



Catholic Doctrixe coxcerxixg the Church, 307 

there should be a head of all the members, and that 
in the nerves of motion and volition there should be 
a common focus ; so also in the mystical body of 
Christ was it necessary there should be one head on 
earth ; one centre from which the inherent powers 
of the priesthood should receive either the lawful- 
ness or the validity of their action. It was for this 
reason that Christ committed the keys to Peter, con- 
ferring on him alone, as being the foundation of His 
Church, plenitude of jurisdiction. It was for this 
reason that He appointed Peter to be the universal 
shepherd of His whole nock, sheep and lambs. He 
knew full well that for the preservation of the 
Church's corporate unity it was necessary to consti- 
tute an earthly head, the focus towards which the 
whole Catholic hierarchy should converge. And 
thus the people united to their priests, the priests to 
their bishops, the bishops to the chair of Peter, all 
might be one body, and members one of another."* 
To the same purport are the words of the holy Vati- 
can Council: "We teach and declare that the Ro- 
man Church, under Divine Providence, possesses a 
headship of ordinary power over all other churches, 
and that this power of jurisdiction of the Roman 
Pontiff, which is truly episcopal, is immediate, to- 

* Harper, "Peace through the Truth," I. p. 46. 



308 



Fourth Lecture. 



ward which the pastors and faithful of whatever 
rite and dignity, whether singly or all together, are 
bound by the duty of hierarchical subordination and 
true obedience, not only in things which pertain to 
faith and morals, but likewise in those things which 
concern the discipline and government of the Church 
spread throughout the world, so that being united 
with the Roman Pontiff, both in communion and in 
profession of the same faith, the Church of Christ 
may be one fold under one chief shepherd." * The 
same council gives its infallible interpretation of 
the words of Holy Scripture which relate to this 
privilege of Peter: "The primacy of jurisdiction 
over the whole Church of God was promised and 
given immediately and directly to blessed Peter the 
apostle by Christ our Lord. For it was to Simon 
alone, to whom He had already said, 'Thou shaft 
be called Cephas,' that after he had professed his 
faith, ' Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God,' 
our Lord said, ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock 
I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it ; and I will give to thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and whatsoever 
thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in 
heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, 

* Dogmatic decree on the Church, chap. iii. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 309 

it shall be loosed also in heaven.' And it was to 
Si. non Peter alone that Jesus, after His resurrection, 
gave the jurisdiction of supreme shepherd and ruler 
over the whole of His fold, saying, ' Feed my lambs ; 
feed my sheep.' " * That these words of Christ di- 
rectly respect Peter, and no one else, is beyond all 
controversy. That they grant him some special privi- 
lege and power directly from the incarnate God is 
also evident. That this privilege makes him the 
stable foundation of the Church, and gives him the 
powers of universal pastorship, is abundantly mani- 
fest. To bind on earth with decrees which are rati- 
fied in heaven, to feed the whole flock of Christ, the 
sheep and the lambs, the priesthood and the people, 
are functions which imply complete and divine juris- 
diction. Wo one but the Son of God could impart 
such powers, and no one can take from them, when 
once the omnipotent Word has spoken. The change 
of the name of Simon is in itself significant, and the 
promise of our Lord to found His Church upon him 
whom He had thus called a rock is the divine evi- 
dence of Peter's office. In this office, which he re- 
ceived immediately from Christ, and not through 
or with the other apostles, he is made the centre of 
the Church's unity and the firmness of her faith. 



Decree cle Ecclesia, cap. i. 



310 



Forum Lecture. 



This office implies complete jurisdiction, since the 
unity of the flock depends upon its order and disci- 
pline ; and the steadfastness of its faith depends 
upon its adhesion to one supreme and infallible 
head. So the grant of the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven confers a kingly power, supreme in its order, 
according to the inspired words which speak of the 
regal dignity of the Son of God: a He that hath 
the key of David openeth, and no man shutteth. ; 
shutteth, and no man openeth." * He also who 
hath a power to bind in heaven, by the exercise of 
pontifical authority on earth, hath the highest au- 
thority in things spiritual, and is the ruler of the 
kingdom of Christ. Again, he who is commissioned 
to feed the lambs and sheep, the entire fold of Christ, 
is the one shepherd of the flock. These words of 
our Lord are to be taken in their literal and natural 
sense ; and unless they signify what the Catholic 
Church has always believed, they are not only idle, 
but framed to deceive. The successor of Peter in 
the Roman See is, therefore, the supreme pastor 
of the redeemed, the one visible head of the Church, 
through whom from Christ flows to the whole body 
the grace of communion with the humanity of the 
Word. He guides the sheep, bishops and people ; 



* Apoc. iii. 7. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 311 

lie is the link which binds them to the invisible 
Pastor, whose vicar he is ; he teaches the Churco 
the unfailing truth ; he confirms everywhere the 
faith of his brethren ; he is the centre of the Church' s 
unity and life, and without him there is no Church, 
according to the words of St. Ambrose: "Where 
Peter is, there is the Church." Without this know- 
ledge of the office and powers of Peter there is no 
comprehension of the Church which the incarnate 
Lord has founded, and through which alone He 
expresses Himself to the successive generations of 
men. 

Such is the universal teaching of the Fathers, 
indelibly imprinted on every page of ecclesiastical 
history. Thus St. Optatus addresses the Donatists : 
"You cannot deny that you know the episcopal 
chair to have been conferred on Peter as primate in 
the city of Rome, in which Peter sat, head of all the 
apostles, whence he was called Cephas also ; in 
communion with which chair unity was to be pre- 
served by all, in order that the apostles might not 
maintain each an independent chair of his own ; so 
that he should be a sinner and a schismatic, whoever 
should, in opposition to that one pre-eminent see, 
establish another on an equality with it." * 

* " De Schismate Donatistarum," L. II. § 2. 



312 



Fourth Lecture. 



St. Gregory of Nyssa tells us, in so many words, 
that the other bishops receive their jurisdiction 
through Peter and his successors: " Through Peter 
He gave to the bishops the key of supercelestial 
honors." * St. Macarius of Egypt, in the fourth 
century, compares the position of Peter under the 
New Law to that of Moses under the Old : " After- 
wards Peter succeeded to Moses, and to him was 
committed the new Church of Christ and the true 
hierarchy." f And St. Cyprian declares that "there 
is one baptism, and one Holy Spirit, and one Church 
founded in the source and nature of her unity on Peter 
by Christ the Lord." X The Vatican Council thus 
expresses the words of divine faith : "All the faith- 
ful of Christ must believe that the holy Apostolic See 
and the Roman Pontiff hold the primacy over the 
whole world, and that the Roman Pontiff is the suc- 
cessor of blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, 
and the true Vicar of Christ, and is the head of the 
whole Church and the father and teacher of all Chris- 
tians ; and that to him, in the blessed Peter, was 
given by our Lord Jesus Christ full power of feed- 
ing, ruling, and governing the universal Church." § 
This supremacy of jurisdiction is connected, by 



* " De Castigatione." 
f Horn. XXVI. N. 23. 



X Bp. LXX. ad Januarium. 
§ Const, tie Bcclesia, cap. ii. 



CA THO LIC D CTRINE CO N CERNING THE ChUR CH. 313 

divine appointment, with the Roman See, from 
which under no circumstances can it be removed or 
transferred ; the Son of God having so provided for 
the needs of the world that the supreme principality 
of His Church should ever be manifest, and the seat 
of His universal vicar ever known. So has the 
incarnate Word and Wisdom of God framed His 
Church, which is His body by real union to Him 
and participation of His life. The similitude is 
divine. As the body of Christ was perfect in all its 
parts, and in unity with the head bearing the princi- 
pality among the members of Christ, so the mystical 
body stands forth in the unity of all its members to 
their visible head, the blessed likeness of the Word 
made flesh. No human malice nor diabolical fiaud 
can mar the beauty of this image of the Christ, or 
separate the living member from the head whence 
flow from on high the kingly grace and royal pre- 
rogatives of the risen and triumphant Lord. 



III. 

The Nature of the Unity of the Church. 



The brief view we have taken of the nature and 
constitution of the Church has already taught us 



314 



Fourth Lecture. 



that its unity, while it is absolute, is also of a higher 
and nobler kind than the oneness of any human 
society. Necessarily, as the body of Christ, it must 
transcend all earthly associations in its exterior form 
and its interior organization. It must be like its 
original, with a power of cohesion and perseverance 
which come from the divine grace and its union to 
the humanity of the God-Man, and through Him to 
the eternal Three in One. In our first lecture we 
have seen the teaching of Holy Scripture and the 
Christian Fathers in regard to the unity of the 
Church which Jesus Christ founded, that He might 
reach all generations by one and the same principle 
of life. We now look more closely to the great re- 
ality which stands before us, visibly representing the 
invisible but truly present Lord in His work of re- 
generation. The Church which is Christ's body is 
one as He is one, according to the creating words of 
His prayer: "That they may all be one, as Thou, 
Father, in me, and I in Thee ; that they also may be 
one in us." * It is one by reason of its principle of 
life, the one incarnate Word ; it is one by reason of 
the end to which it guides its members, the vision of 
the one God in glory ; it is one by reason of the 
means it employs for the sanctification of men ; it is 



*St. John xvii. 21. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 315 

one by the unity of the Holy Ghost, who is its in- 
ternal ruler ; and it is one by reason of its connection 
of all its members with one head, Jesus Christ. " So 
we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every 
one members one of another." * The source of its 
unity is the grace of the one Lord, who in all things 
works through the body and soul of the Church ac- 
cording to the oneness of His nature. Thus there is 
only one Church, as there is only one Grod ; and plu- 
rality would be as impossible here as in the divine 
essence. In all times the one Church remains the 
same, never losing its identity nor the attributes of 
its personality. This is the confession of the one 
unchanging Christian faith, "I believe in one, holy, 
Catholic Church." As there is always in all succes- 
sive generations one Lord, the one Redeemer of men, 
so there is one body. As we have seen, the Church 
has a twofold nature, like the humanity to which it 
is conformed ; and its twofold unity corresponds with 
its nature. "This unity is not mathematical nor 
physical, but moral, as in a republic or kingdom, 
whose oneness requires one head, one discipline, and 
one external form. There is the unity of body and 
soul, since the Church hath one principal head, 
Christ our Lord, in whom we are all one, and one 

* Rom. xii. 5. 



316 



Fourth Lecture. 



head on earth, His vicar, as there is to the one flock 
one shepherd."* Thus there is one external form in 
the due order by which the faithful are bound to 
their pastors, and the hierarchy are bound to their 
chief, and through him to Christ. This makes the 
fold of the Good Shepherd truly one, as all its mem- 
bers are bound as closely together as are the limbs 
and organs of the human body. There can be no 
infraction of this unity without the essential destruc- 
tion of the Church. For the oneness of similitude 
by which different assemblies of men may have the 
same external form and government, is not the divine 
oneness of the Church. There may be states or so- 
cieties bearing all the features of the same organiza- 
tion, and, as it were, copies of the same model ; but 
they are not one, except by a likeness which each 
may bear to the other — a likeness which does not 
touch their absolute independence. They are many 
and not one. The Church of Christ requires a unity 
of identity, as all its members, wherever found, are 
bound to the same supreme government, are parts of 
the same organization, joined to their visible rnler, 
as surely as the organs of the human body are united 
to the head.f Heresy and schism then rend the unity 
of the Church, and separate all involved in their 

* Suarez, " De Fide," Disp. IX. § 4. 
f Mazzella, " De Imitate Ecclesia?." 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 3L7 

guilt from the communion of Christ. Heresy is a 
pertinacious error in faith by which the doctrines 
revealed by God are denied either in whole or in 
part. Schism is a voluntary departure from the fold 
of the one shepherd. "They," says St. Thomas, 
"are called schismatics who separate themselves 
from the unity of the Church. The unity of the 
Church is seen in two things — in the connection or 
communication of the different members with each 
other, and in the order by which all are bound to one 
head. But this head is Christ, whose functions the 
Supreme Pontiff discharges on earth. They, then, are 
schismatics who refuse obedience to the Supreme 
Pontiff, and do not communicate with the members 
of the Church subject to him. These £ hold not the 
head, from which the whole body, by joints and 
bands being supplied with nourishment and com- 
pacted, groweth unto the increase of God.' Between 
schism and heresy there is this difference : that while 
schism separates from the unity of the Church, 
heresy adds to this sinful separation errors in 
faith." * Nevertheless, by both sins charity, which 
flows from Christ through the organization of His 
body, is lost, and so in different degrees heresy and 
schism attack the unity of faith. 

* "Summa," Part II. Quest, xxxix. Art. 2. 



318 



Foujrth Lecture. 



The notes of the Church's visible or corporate 
unity are manifest. "The most prominent of these 
marks is intercommunion, by virtue of which Church 
communicates with Church, and the members of one 
Church communicate with those of another in sacred 
things. In fact, intercommunion, though it is justly 
considered as a note, because it is at once and easily 
subject to the observation of the most simple and 
unlearned, yet, on the other hand, is more than this. 
It is that charity itself, in act at least, which is the 
principle of the Church' s corporate unity, and which 
is not that love of one another which is a private 
and personal virtue, but is, as it were, a special po- 
litical charity, by which all the members of Christ's 
mystical body are cemented together in one indis- 
soluble communion."* "Consequently, intercom- 
munion was ever considered as essential to any par- 
ticipation in the name and life of the Church Catho- 
lic, and the being deprived of it by excommunica- 
tion as the most terrible punishment. For the Church, 
according to the counsel of the divine predestination, 
is the one home of the whole human family. There 
are differences more than enough among the children 
of men — differences of race, nationality, politics, and 
education. In the city of our God these differences 

* Harper, " Peace through the Truth," I. 49. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 319 

cease. All are one. For all have one faith, own one 
Lord, one God and Father of all, profess one creed, 
receive one baptism, are nourished by the same celes- 
tial food, are sustained by the same hope, and bow 
before one altar. Bishop communicates with bishop, 
Church with Church, all with Rome." * 

Another note of visible unity is a general con- 
formity in external worship. The great sacrifice of 
the Eucharist, the highest act of priestly dignity, is 
the centre around which all the rites of the Church 
must converge. And here, amid minor differences 
of liturgy, there is a marvellous unity. All the 
members of the vast communion are here suppliant 
before the divine altar, where every eye looks to the 
Lamb of God, and every hand points to the sacrifice 
by which the effects of His redemption are made per- 
petual. The one heart of the Church here shows 
before God and man the centre of its loving adora- 
tion, and the fount whence it draws its life-blood. 

So, again, the one confession of faith, by the one 
mouth of the Church throughout the world, is the 
outward manifestation of her one soul. Here there 
can be no variation and no shadow of change. The 
faith is written by the Holy Ghost upon the heart of 
all the Church's members ; the intellect is illumined 



* Ibid. p. 50. 



,320 



Fourth Lecture. 



to see the truths revealed ; and therefore from many 
comes the one voice which tells of God and His 
" Christ. It is the voice which glorifies the supreme 
condescension, and declares before men and angels 
the realities of the spiritual world. There can be no 
wavering, uncertain sound to this voice, which gives 
back to God the Word the profession of the faith 
which His presence inspires. It is like the voice of 
the incarnate Son in the flesh, which awoke the echoes 
of this earth, and filled space with the divine utter- 
ances of His mouth. "My heart hath uttered a good 
word. Grace is poured abroad in thy lips, therefore 
hath God blessed thee for ever." * 

But the great and infallible test of communion 
with the Church of Christ is communion with the 
Supreme Pontiff. This is the indispensable note 
of corporate unity. As well might a withered 
and dead limb, cut from the human body and 
severed from its life, be called a part of that 
body, as a community not in union with the 
Apostolic See be called a member of the Catholic 
Church. Union with the head is the essential con- 
dition of life. So the great doctor of the Church, St. 
Jerome, writes to St. Damasus, the Bishop of Rome, 
in the fourth century: "Following no chief but 



* Psalm xliv. 1, 3. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 321 

Christ, I am joined in communion with your Beati- 
tude—that is, with the chair of Peter. On that rock 
I know that the Church is built. Whosoever shall 
eat the Lamb outside of that house is profane. If 
any one be not in the ark of Noe, lie shall perish 
when the deluge prevails. Whosoever does not 
gather with you, scattereth ; he who is not Christ's 
belongs to Antichrist." * 

So St. Boniface in his day (a.d. 419) declared the 
divine faith: "The institution of the universal 
Church took its beginning from the honor bestowed 
upon blessed Peter, in whom its headship and gov- 
ernment reside. For from him, as its source, did 
ecclesiastical discipline flow over all the churches 
when the culture of religion had begun to make 
progress. The precepts of the Synod of Mcaea bear 
no other testimony, as it knew that every tiling had 
been bestowed upon him by the Lord. It is there- 
fore certain that this Church, is to the churches 
spread over the wliole world as the head is to its own 
members, from which whoso has cut himself off 
becomes an alien from the Christian religion." f 

The moral unity of the Church comes from the 
direct operation of the Holy Gfhost upon the whole 
body, and is the source of its living, corporate one- 



* Ep. XV. ad Damasum. 



f Ep. XIV. Epis. Thess. 



322 



Fo UR TH LECTUR E. 



ness. This is as the soul to the body. It informs it 
with life, and shows itself outwardly by all the mani- 
festations of its spiritual vigor. It is the possession 
by all its members of th.3 one faith revealed in and 
by Christ, and this unanimity of belief is its primary 
principle of unity. This oneness of faith depends, 
so far as each member or each particular Church is 
concerned, on the free will of each one, assisted by 
the grace of the humanity of Christ, so that the 
unity of the Spirit, the divine and spiritual una- 
nimity, is kept in the bond of peace. The kingdom 
of the Lord is the kingdom of truth, in which He 
reigns as the teacher of men, speaking with His own 
mouth the verities of salvation, and illuminating the 
mind to receive them in the splendor which shines 
from His human soul. The soul of the Church has 
direct communication with the Soul of its ever- 
present Bridegroom. This faith taught by the Man- 
God "is the one living principle uniting nations, and 
peoples, and languages in the common profession of 
a divine philosophy, eternally one and immutable, as 
He is who first taught it. It is a standing miracle, 
binding together into one visible body millions upon 
millions of men from every land, who through suc- 
cessive generations, through the whole course of time 
even to its end, however differing from each other in 
the various properties of life, should nevertheless 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 323 

of their own free will, prevented and assisted by 
grace, practically live in, live for, and die in the 
strength of the one faith." * So St. Irenseus writes : 
"The Church throughout the earth has one soul, 
because she believes in one divine faith ; and one 
mouth, because she everywhere makes her profes- 
sion of the truth ; and is as the sun, which, in all the 
world one and the same, enlightens all lands with its 
rays." f 

As, therefore, we see in the visible or corporate 
unity of the Church the likeness of the one body 
of Christ in a connection of member with member, 
and of all the members with the head ; so we see, in 
the unity of the faith which the Church professes, 
the similitude of the one human soul of the incar- 
nate God looking into the divine essence and be- 
holding face to face the deep things of Deity. By 
no human words can this unity be described. It is 
above the laws of nature ; it is wholly supernatural 
and divine ; it takes upon itself the attributes of 
God, and is like unto the union between Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost in the mysterious life of the 
Trinity. Well may we say that no enemy can touch 
this oneness which lies hidden in the bosom of the 
Almighty, far beyond all human or diabolical malice. 



* Harper, I. 18. 



\ "Adv. Haereses," I. N. 10. 



Fourth Lecture. 



The shield of the sacred humanity protects it, the 
splendor of the Trinity is its guard. "The glory 
which Thou hast given me I have given to them, 
that they be one, as we also are one ; I in them, and 
Thou in me that they may be made perfect in one." * 



IV. 

The Sanctity which belongs to the Church. 

The sanctity of the Church of Christ is as divine 
as her unity ; it is the holiness of God communicated 
to man, and not to man individually, but to him 
through the incarnation of the Son of God and by 
corporate union with His body. The Holy Ghost 
sent by the Son is the living heart of the Church, 
its principle of vitality, and therefore its perennial 
source of sanctity. The Divine Spirit abides in the 
Church, and from Him flows the unceasing stream 
that makes glad the city of God. "Where the 
Church is," says St. Irsenens, " there is also the Spirit 
of God ; and where the Spirit of God is, there is 
the Church with all grace." "For this gift of God is 
entrusted to the Church, as the breath of life was to 



* St. John xvii. 22, 23. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church 325 

the first man, to this end: that all the members, par- 
taking of it, might be quickened with life." * And 
St. Gregory the Great gives in few words the whole 
doctrine of the Church's sanctity: "The holy, uni- 
versal Church is one body, constituted under Christ 
Jesus, its head ; therefore Christ, with His whole 
Church — both that which is still on earth and that 
which now reigns with Him in heaven — is one Per- 
son ; and as the soul is one which quickens the va- 
rious members of the body, so the one Holy Spirit 
quickens and illuminates the Church. For as Christ, 
who is the head of the Church, w T as conceived of 
the Holy Ghost, so the Holy Church, which is His 
body, is filled by the same Spirit that it may have 
life, is confirmed by His power that it may subsist in 
the bond of one faith and charity. This is that body 
out of which the Spirit quickeneth not ; wherefore 
the blessed Augustine saith : 'If thou wouldstlive in 
the Spirit of Christ, be in the body of Christ.' Of 
this Spirit the heretic does not live, nor the schis- 
matic, nor the excommunicated, for they are not of 
the body ; but the Church hath a Spirit that giv- 
eth life, because it inheres inseparably to Christ, its 
head." f 

The mission of the Holy Ghost is specially to the 

* " Adv. Haereses," III. cap. xxiv. f St. Greg., Expos, in Psal. v. 



326 



Fourth Lecture. 



Church in which He abides, and His operations here 
differ from all His works of grace previous to the In- 
carnation. His special personal presence is in and 
through the incarnate Word, whose mystical body is 
His home. Such are the words of our Lord : "It is 
expedient to you that I go, for if I go not the Para- 
clete will not come to you ; but if I go I will send 
Him to you. When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, 
He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak 
of Himself ; but what things soever He shall hear He 
shall speak, He shall glorify me, because He shall 
receive of mine and shall show it to you." * The 
Divine Spirit was the source of all spiritual life in all 
the ages preceding the birth of Christ, but He could 
not come to abide in men until the Godhead had 
taken upon itself humanity and prepared a body for 
Him. When the Son had become man, had paid the 
ransom for sin, and had made ready the visible habi- 
tation, then the Holy Spirit came down, and in and 
through the Word made flesh united Himself to our 
nature. "To the Fathers of the Old Testament it 
was not fitting that the mission of the Holy G-host 
should be visibly fulfilled," says St. Thomas, "be- 
cause it was necessary that the visible mission of the 
Son should first be accomplished before that of the 



* St. John xvi. 7, 13, 14 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 327 

Holy Ghost, since the Holy Ghost manifests the Son, 
as the Son manifests the Father.'' * 

The clay of Pentecost, on which the Divine Spirit 
of life and sanctification came to the Church, is well 
called her natal day, because then she began to live 
by virtue of His presence, which can never be taken 
from her. " I will ask the Father, and He shall give 
you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you 
for ever." " He shall abide with you, and shall be in 
you. 7 ' f There could be no body of Christ until the 
Incarnation was accomplished ; and the glorification 
of the incarnate Son was necessary to the organiza- 
tion of that body of which the living and triumphant 
Lord is the head. Then when the Scriptures were 
accomplished, and the Second Person had taken His 
humanity to its glorious throne in the splendor of 
deity, the mystical body was created and stood forth 
before angels and men in its likeness to the God-Man. 
So Christ, as the head, sends all grace to all the mem- 
bers of His body. It is through the humanity that 
we touch the divinity and are made ''members of 
His body, of His flesh and His bones." i And all 
things are subjected to Him when once He is at the 
Father s right hand in the heavenly places. He is 
above all principality, and power, and virtue, and 

* Summa," Pars I. Quaest. xliii. § 7. f St. John xvi 16, 17. % Eph. v. 30. 



328 



Fourth Lecture. 



dominion, and He is "head over all the Church, 
which is His body and His fulness." * The instru- 
ment in accomplishing this union which binds the 
members together to one head is the Divine Spirit. 
" By one Spirit were we all baptized into one body," f 
and thus being in Christ by an actual, substantial 
union, we are ' ' built together into an habitation 
of God in the Spirit." J The sanctification of the 
soul is effected by the personal indwelling of the 
Holy Ghost, who comes to live in the regenerate 
heart, which by His almighty breath He quickens 
and lifts to real participation with the humanity of 
Christ. So as the whole Church is called in truth 
the temple of God, because God dwells therein in 
all His creating activity, the individual man is also 
the tabernacle of the Most Holy. "We will come to 
him that loveth me and keepeth my word, and make 
our abode with him."§ "Know you not," says St. 
Paul, "that you are the temple of God, and that the 
Spirit of God dwelleth in you? The temple of God 
is holy, which you are." [ " The Holy Ghost, then, 
dwells personally and substantially in the mystical 
body which is the incorporation of those avIio are 
sanctified. The members therefore, of this body 



* Ephes. i. 20-23. 
f 1 Cor. xii. 13. 
X Ephes. ii. 22. 



§ St. John xiv. 23. 
1 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 329 

who are sanctified partake not only of the created 
graces, but of a substantial union with the Holy 
Ghost ; and this substantial union, though analogous 
to the hypostatic union of the two natures in Christ, 
is not hypostatic, since the human personality of the 
members still subsists in this substantial union." * 
Nevertheless this union between the Divine Spirit 
and the Church is indissoluble, and works an eternal 
reality. Christ and His body are one. The union 
between the Head and the living members is for 
eternity, and there is no union so perfect save that of 
the Three Persons in the adorable Trinity. The Holy 
Ghost is always with the head, Christ, not only as 
God, but also as man. " God, Thy God, hath anoint- 
ed Thee wdth the oil of gladness above Thy fellows." f 
From the Head the oil of gladness, the unction of 
the Holy Ghost, flows down to all the members. 
Thus "these divine unions — first of the Head with 
the members ; next of the members with eacli other ; 
and, lastly, of the Holy Ghost with the body — will be 
eternal. The mystical body will exist to all eternity 
in the perfect number of the blessed. For the Church 
is not an individual, but a mystical person ; and ail 
its endowments are derived from the Divine Person 

*Carcl. Manning's " Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost," p. 73. 
f Heb. i. 9. 



330 



Fourth Lecture. 



of its Head and the Divine Spirit who is its life. As 
in the Incarnation there is a communication of the 
divine perfections to the humanity, so in the Church 
the perfections of the Holy Spirit become the endow- 
ments of the body. It is imperishable, because He 
is God ; indivisibly one, because He is numerically 
one ; holy, because He is the fountain of holiness ; 
infallible, both in believing and teaching, because His 
illumination and voice are immutable ; and, there- 
fore, being not an individual depending upon the 
fidelity of a human will, but a body depending onh r 
upon the divine will, it is not on trial or probation, 
but is itself the instrument of probation to mankind. 
It cannot be affected by the frailty or sins of the hu- 
man will, any more than the brightness of the firma- 
ment by the dimness or loss of human sight. It can 
no more be tainted by human sin than the holy sa- 
craments, which are always immutably pure and 
divine, though those who come to them be impure 
and faithless. What the Church was in the begin- 
ning it is now, and ever shall be in all the plenitude 
of its divine endowments, because the union between 
the body and the Spirit is indissoluble, and all the 
operations of the Spirit in the body are perpetual 
and absolute." * Thus the Church of Christ is holy 

*Card. Manning's " Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost," p. 75. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 331 

because God is holy, and because it is the aggrega- 
tion of those who are in living participation of Christ 
through His Spirit. It is the visible manifestation of 
God on earth, the incorporation of His presence. It 
is more effectual than even the incarnate Word in 
the days of His flesh, revealing to the darkness of 
earth " the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth" ; since our Lord Himself hath told us 
that the manifestation of the Paraclete in His mys- 
tical body brings us nearer to Himself, and accom- 
plishes for us that which His visible presence could 
not do. The Spirit and the bride are united by an 
everlasting tie, and the sanctifications of the saints 
are the fruit of the union. The bride is adorned for 
her Spouse, and "he that thirsteth comes, and he 
that wills takes of the water of life freely." * 

The Holy Ghost is intrinsically active, and where 
He abides is the source of spiritual life. From His 
abode in the Church He sends forth the beams 
which quicken and purify the just, and fertilize the 
whole garden of God. Never infringing upon the 
freedom of the human will, He works mightily with 
those who are willing in the day of His power. 

The sacraments are the chosen channels of His 
grace, in which to the needs of men whom He regen- 



Apocalypse xxii. 17. 



332 



Fourth Lecture. 



erates He ministers ; and He leads His children from 
spiritual infancy " to a perfect manhood, to the mea- 
sure of the age of the fulness of Christ." * Born 
again of water and the Holy Ghost, they are ''de- 
livered from the power of darkness, and translated 
into the kingdom of the saints in light." f Here 
they are "stripped of the old man with his deeds, 
and put on the new man who is renewed unto know- 
ledge, according to the image of Him who created 
him." X Here "as many as have been baptized into 
Christ put on Christ, "§ "in whom dwelleth all 
the fulness of the Godhead corporally." || Here is 
a mightier work than the first creation, when from 
the iinshapen chaos the Spirit of God brought 
forth the order and beauty of the visible world. 
The fruit of the first action of the Spirit was the 
material earth, with the race of man in form and 
soul like unto the eternal Trinity. The fruit 
of the second creation is the opening of a new 
heaven and a new earth, and the birth of a re- 
generate manhood, in which appears the similitude 
of the Word Incarnate, whose form is beautiful 
among the sons of men. So to the new-born the 
streams of grace run out from the Sacred Heart, the 



* Ephes. iv. 13. 
f Col. i. 12, 13. 
% Col. iii. 10. 



§ Gal. iii. 27. 
|| Col. ii. 9. . 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 333 

centre of the divine humanity, and the Spirit sancti- 
fies to the end that which He has quickened and 
blessed. Seven sanctifying streams are the outpour- 
ing of the energy of the Holy Ghost in the body of 
Christ ; and as life wears away, closer becomes the 
tie which binds the just to his Lord, and more 
intimate the power of the sacred humanity. The 
union is begun and perfected which can only end in 
glorification of soul and body before the throne, 
when the likeness of the Son of Man shall appear in 
His members, and they shall bear His image exter- 
nally, "because they shall then see Him as He is." * 
It is, however, in the adorable sacrament of the 
altar that the Holy Spirit works in the most wonder- 
ful manner. Here not only grace flows from the 
Heart of Jesus, but the Word made flesh gives Him- 
self in all the fulness of His power. Here the Head 
feeds the members of His body, and communicates 
to them, day by day, the divine life which is in Him 
by virtue of His Godhead. Over this great sacrifice 
and sacrament the Holy Ghost presides, even as by 
His energy the flesh of Jesus was first conceived in 
the womb of the Virgin. Here "the Creator sets 
Himself before the work of His hands, to be partaken 
of ; the Self- Existent gives Himself to mortals for 



* 1 St. John iii. 2. 



334 



Fourth Lecture. 



food and drink. i Come, eat my bread,' is His invita- 
tion, ' and drink the wine I have prepared for yon. I 
have prepared myself for food, I have mingled my- 
self for those that desire me.' " * How holy must 
that Communion be which thns possesses the altar of 
the Divine Victim, and is nourished in all its living 
members by the flesh of God's consubstantial Son! 
Well may the Fathers tell ns that it bears the person 
and attributes of its almighty Head. Death can no 
more prevail against it than it prevailed against the 
Word Incarnate. There may be the garden of 
agony, the condemnation of Pilate, the sconrge, or 
the cross, or even the sepulchre ; but there is the 
glory of resurrection, the dawn of the eternal day, 
when shadows shall rjass away and the humanity of 
the Man-God shall appear, the undying, life-giving 
light of the redeemed. In this light the holy Church 
lives ; in this light she conquers the things of sense ; 
in this light she shall see the revelation of her 
hidden glories, when she shall be presented, without 
spot or blemish, to the Eternal Father, as the bride 
of His Son and the dwelling of His Co-equal Spirit. 

* St. Cyril Alex., Horn, in Mystic. Ccenam. 



Catholic Doctbixe goncernixg the Church. 335 



V. 

Tlie Ends which the Church accomplishes. 

The ends which the Church of Christ was formed 
to accomplish are, principally, the incorporation of 
the redeemed into one body, the sanctification of all 
its members by the grace it possesses, and the teach- 
ing of the true faith unto the end of time. All these 
ends are accomplished by her constitution, and they 
are the natural fruit of her life. The Church, as we 
have seen her to be, cannot fail in the work which 
the Son of God accomplishes through her. She will 
bear her true children to the glory to which their re- 
generation leads, and persevere to the end of her 
mission in undivided unity and indefectible life. In- 
dividuals may fall from her and perish, but " the line 
of the faithful will never be broken ; the chain of the 
elect is always woven link within link, and wound 
together in the mysterious course and onward move- 
ment of truth and grace in the hearts and wills of 
the regenerate. The line of faith, hope, and charity 
is never dissolved. The three-fold cord cannot be 
broken, and the ever-blessed Trinity always inhabits 
His tabernacle upon earth." * 

* Card. Manning, "Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost," p. 74. 



336 Fourth Leciure. 

1. Incorporation with Christ is the merciful plan 
by which the salvation of man is to be effected. The 
first Adam failed, and involved his children in his 
sin and punishment. Nothing more can he do for 
his children. Paradise, with all its glories and 
hopes, he forfeited for them. "By a man came 
death, and in Adam all died." * He was indeed a liv- 
ing soul raised by grace to supernatural dignity and 
exalted privilege; but still he was of the earth, earthly. 
All who would be restored to the hopes which he 
lost must pass from him and his heritage of shame 
and corruption to the Second Adam, who is the vic- 
tor over the death of our fallen race, and a quicken- 
ing Spirit. They must pass from their share in the 
prevarication of the race to a real union with the 
Second Adam, so that they become His members by 
substantial participation of His nature. They have 
borne the image of the earthly ; they must bear the 
image of the heavenly, f The old man, with his 
deeds, his past, his memories of transgression, must 
be put away, and the new man must be put on, with 
the blessed image of the Father' s glory. ' ' We are 
to be filled in Him who is the head of all princi- 
pality and power, in whom dwelleth the fulness 
of the Godhead corporally." % And when we are 

* 1 Cor. xv. 21,22. f 1 Cor. xv. 45-49. \ Col. ii. 9, 10. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 337 

thus in Christ "we shall be new creatures ; the 
old things are passed away ; behold, all things 
are made new.' ' * There ' ' Christ is all and in 
all; and our life is really Christ living in us." f 
Then, with the Second Adam, we may hope to enter 
within the veil, and, sustained by His living flesh, 
see Grod face to face, when the redeemed man shall 
come to the fulness of beatitude. 

But the Church is the only instrument by which 
this incorporation into Christ can be effected. It is 
indeed " the body of Christ" ; and only by member- 
ship with it can we put on the new man and pass 
from the company of the first Adam. " The Church 
is His body and His fulness," and it is "built upon 
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone." % The 
Church, being thus the body of Christ, tilled with His 
life and attributes, bearing His personality, has power 
by divine sacraments to quicken the dead with life, 
and incorporate them into her own communion. By 
taking them into herself she makes them partakers 
of all her gifts. "In one Spirit were we all baptized 
into one body ; in one Spirit Ave have all been made 
to drink. And Christ is this one body which hath 
many members, and yet is one." § " Baptized into 



* 2 Cor. v. 17. f Gal. ii. 20. % Ephes. i. 23, ii. 20. § 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13. 



338 



Fourth Lecture. 



Christ, we have put on Christ," * and "buried with 
Him by baptism, we have risen with Him in newness 
of life." f The incarnate Word then triumphs among 
the ruins of the fall, and by the virtue of His saving 
flesh quickens what He redeems. Only by union to 
Him can the dead arise to the new life. Only by 
union to His Church, which is His body, can this 
union be imparted. She is Christ on earth, bearing 
the image of her Head, and, with the human arms of 
her Spouse, folding to the bosom of the Deity the 
children whom she fills with His regenerating power. 
" Both He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanc- 
tified, are all of one. For which cause He is not 
ashamed to call them brethren, saying, ' I will de- 
clare my name to my brethren ; in the midst of the 
Church will I praise Thee. Behold me and my 
children, whom God hath given me.' " % This is that 
glorious Church which shall pass the struggles of 
life, overcome the malice of devils, and enter into the 
marriage- chamber of the Lamb, adorned with linen, 
clean and white, without spot or wrinkle, where the 
nuptial tie shall for ever join in glory the Bridegroom 
and the bride, Christ and His mystical body. 

2. The condition of membership with Christ is life, 
and life is sanctification. No one can be united by 



* Gal. iii. 27. 



f Rom. vi. 4. 



X Heb. ii. 11, 12. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 339 

substantial union to the incarnate God without par- 
taking of His sanctity. The members are like the 
Head, from which they draw their vital force. The 
Church, which by her divine ministry and sacra- 
ments has power to incorporate into Christ, lives for 
the sanctification of all of our race who will be sanc- 
tified. She has the infinite treasures which are in the 
humanity and divinity of her Lord, and these she 
alone dispenses to mankind. She alone pours out 
the streams of sanctifying grace in the seven sacra- 
ments, and hallows the intelligence in all its relations 
to God and to creatures. Herself filled with the life 
of her Spouse, she gives from that fulness to the 
soul in all its needs and longings. Her existence is 
as unearthly as is that of her Lord, and so, amid the 
darkness of earth, she brings forth saints, and the 
uncreated light always shines within her and from 
her. This light can no more be quenched than the 
burning glory of the Triune God can be extinguished. 
Being the body of Christ by substantial union to 
Him, and having the Holy Spirit as her intimate 
principle of life, she is like unto God in activity. As 
the light of the sun must shine, and by its beams 
give everywhere life and fertility, so she, "the light 
of the world," must illumine the darkness of the 
moral night, and dispel the shadows wherever her 
rays may penetrate. She is the only sun of the 



uo 



Fourth Lecture. 



spiritual world, for the Son of God has only one 
body, and there is only one Redeemer. Her active 
sanctity flows forth continually in her perpetuation 
of herself, by the miracle of regeneration and the 
actual graces which are her crown, the oil of her 
unction, the effects of her prolific life. They who 
refuse her ministry can never find the grace which 
she dispenses, for they can never find another Christ. 
Of her the prophet spoke the words of God: "I 
will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever ; 
and my tabernacle shall be with them ; and I will be 
their God, and they shall be my people. And the 
nations shall know that I am the Lord the sancti- 
fier." * "Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is 
not a spot in thee." f 

In the Church alone is the ministry of reconcil- 
iation, who bear the functions of the one invisible 
Priest, and cleanse the soul from sin by the precious 
blood, and offer the all-healing sacrifice of the Lamb 
once slain on Calvary. Divine gifts like these belong 
to the Word made flesh, and to His humanity alone. 
For them, His members, does "He sanctify Himself, 
that they also may be sanctified in truth." % So says 
St. Cyril : " The Holy Church subjugates in order to 
godliness every class of men, governors and governed, 



* Ezechiel xxxvii. 26, 27. f Canticles iv. 7. % St. John xvii. 19. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 3-11 

learned and unlearned ; universally treats and heals 
every sort of sins which are committed by soul or 
body ; and possesses in herself every form of virtue 
which is named, both in deeds and words, and in 
every kind of spiritual gifts." * And, indeed, she 
alone professes to represent on earth the Word made 
flesh, and to be endowed with His divine functions. 
She alone witnesses, by her spiritual character and 
unearthly prerogatives, to the mission of One who, 
though He is man, is still the mighty God; and to 
them who have faith to receive her gives the power to 
become really the sons of God. She is the mother 
of those "who are born, not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
God." f She hath the cradle of Bethlehem, the birth 
of the incarnate Son, and so she will accomplish her 
mission, and in her arms shall be born those whom the 
Infinite Mercy foreknew, in the image and likeness 
of His humanity. These are the sons of God. The 
world knoweth them not, because it knoweth not the 
Word made flesh. Here comes Jesus Christ by water 
and blood ; here the Spirit testifieth that Christ is 
the truth ; here give their witness to faithful eyes 
the Spirit, the water, and the blood. % If the Light 



* St. Cyril, " Hier. Cat.," XVIII. 23. f St. John i. 12, 13. 

% 1 St. John iii. 2, v. 6-8. 



342 



Fourth Lecture. 



shine in darkness, and the darkness comprehend it 
not, it is still the same uncreated, life-giving Light ; 
it is still Jesus, God over all, blessed for evermore ; 
and His body is ever filled with the principality and 
fulness of its head. 

3. The mission of the Church would, however, be 
incomplete and useless without the possession of the 
truth. Nor can we conceive of a Church which is 
the body of Christ and the dwelling of the Holy 
Spirit, unless it be filled with the light of the truth 
revealed. The body must, in its degree, participate 
in the sight of its head ; and as God became man to 
make known the truth, so He became the head of 
His Church to fill it with the intimate perception of 
the truth which His humanity reveals. Moreover, 
the Church is the organ of His voice, and the exposi- 
tion to the world of His revelation. Twofold, there- 
fore, is the knowledge of the visible body of the 
Lord : the living perception of the words spoken by 
the God-Man, and the power to express infallibly 
that faith which in its heart it possesses. Its sight 
of the truth is active, and that which it sees it 
confesses. It has the ej^es and the voice of the 
incarnate Word, who became man to express bodily 
the revelation of God, and who hath no other voice 
on earth but that of the Church through which He 
speaks. Any other view of the Church would rob it 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church, 343 

of its divine character, and strip it of all substantial 
union to the humanity of Christ or to the life- 
giving Spirit. It cannot be the body of the incar- 
nate Word and the temple of the Holy Ghost, with- 
out being indefectible in life and infallible in faith. 
And as God became man to manifest Himself to us, 
so He has been pleased to continue His incarnation in 
His Church, which, united to Him and bearing His 
attributes, represents Him to the successive genera- 
tions of men. Corruption in faith, then, could no 
more touch the Church than corruption in body 
could touch the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. 
Moreover, the generations since the ascension of our 
Lord to the right hand of His Father have no other 
way of "hearing with their ears, seeing with their 
eyes, and handling with their hands the Word of 
Life." * The world would be Christless, wandering 
in darkness, and far less privileged than the children 
of the Old Covenant, if there were no body on earth 
possessing Christ and acting for Him. The fallen 
race of man has always had some sure mode of com- 
munion with God, in which the awful majesty of the 
Lawgiver was united with the promise of mercy and 
the light of hope. Patriarchs and prophets spoke 
the unerring words of divine love. The glory of the 



* 1 St. John i. 1. 



Foubth Lecture. 



Old Law was crowned with the beams which abode 
between the cherubim, where the response of the 
God of Jacob was the unfailing trust of His people. 
These were shadows of the coming light, foretelling 
the dawn of a day when the Almighty should make 
bare His arm, and "the Virgin should conceive and 
bear a son, and call His name Emmanuel." * Then 
the beams of the dawn were to be as darkness com- 
pared to the great light which the people of the 
night were to see. "For a child was born to us, and 
a son was given to us, and the government is upon 
His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonder- 
ful, Counsellor, the Mighty, the Father of the world 
to come, the Prince of Peace." f Could, the Orient 
from on high have thus risen, only to set for ever and 
leave the world in deeper night than when the God 
of Israel dwelt between the cherubim ? Could the 
scene of Bethlehem and the Incarnation of God the 
Son have been only the mockery of the world's woe, 
passing as the flashing of the comet in its sweep 
across the heavens % No ! The union of the two 
natures in the one person of the Word is an insepa- 
rable union, and the Incarnation shall stand for ever, 
not simply the Deity revealed in our nature, but God 
made man. The " heir of all things, the brightness 



* Isaias vii. 14. 



f Isaias ix. 6. 



Catholic Doctrine coxcerxisg the Church. 345 

of the Father's glory and the figure of His sub- 
stance"* will for ever rule the kingdom which His 
human hands set up, and will never cease to fill His 
body with all His fulness. If the Son of God be 
incarnate, then there is a living body which He 
animates ; then the children of redemption are not 
onty near their teachers, but they are in intimate 
possession of the living truth. So it is the office of 
the Church to speak the words of its invisible head, 
Jesus Christ, and to write the truth upon sanctified 
hearts and intelligences. The truth revealed in 
Jesus is the faith of which the Church is the expres- 
sion. And the Word made flesh, who created the 
world, and in mightier power created the humanity 
which He assumed, has no other way of speaking to 
men. Faith must come from God ; and it is not by 
human wisdom, nor by research into things new and 
old, much less by the pride of the intellect, that the 
creature can know his Creator. If the Catholic 
Church were not, there would be no trace on earth of 
the steps of the Child of Mary. The Man of men, 
who is also G-od of God, would have lived in vain. 
But this contradiction of divine mercy can never be. 
The Church biings Christ substantially to every 
human mind and heart, the Redeemer with His open 

* Heb. i. 3. 



346 



Fourth Leciure. 



side whence flows the stream of cleansing, the God- 
Man with His human soul whence comes the light 
to sanctify our intelligence. Through her speaks the 
unerring Truth, and because of her union to Him 
she can never fail to see and manifest the verities of 
salvation. She is herself the way, the truth, the 
life, because to the world she is Christ. And while 
the voice of faith is one, and the confession one 
throughout the wide earth, the depths of the Infinite 
wisdom are open to the thirsty soul and to the pure 
in heart. Nearer and nearer comes the strong light 
of the world unseen ; closer and closer, according to 
our desire, are we folded to that bosom where the 
love and knowledge of the Godhead dwell cor- 
porally. The incarnate Truth sanctifies as the 
willing mind is open to its power ; and in the reality 
of the sight faith seems sometimes to lose itself in 
vision, and we behold not the human members, but 
the very flesh and face of God's consubstantial Son. 
The outward voice of the Church awakes the echoes 
of divine faith in all regenerate nature, and the 
spiritual creation vibrates with new life to the 
sound, for it is the voice of the sanctifying Word. 

And as the Church is not a headless trunk, a com- 
pany of men without order or unity of life, so she 
speaks through her visible head, who is the vicar 
of her invisible Lord, the King of kings. The 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 347 

Church is like unto the human body in its symmetry 
of constitution, but especially like the body of her 
Lord, which she mystically is, and substantially 
presents to the world. As she cannot be conceived 
of without her visible head, and as the hierarchy 
would be a misshapen mass without the Supreme 
Pontiff ; so, in the supernatural unity of her life, 
does the head speak to and for the members. He 
represents to men the Lord whose vicar he is ; he 
received the plenitude of power and jurisdiction 
from Christ Himself - r and His words are the voice of 
God made man still speaking to the world which He 
redeemed. Therefore he cannot fail in his high 
office ; therefore his utterances in teaching and guid- 
ing the faith of the Church are beyond the pos- 
sibility of error. And as he is the head, there is no 
voice of Christ without him. The Church is not a 
possibility without him. The hierarchy without 
him have neither power to guide the flock of Christ 
nor to teach the faith. With him their faith never 
fails ; without him they cannot be the shepherds of 
the fold. Any member cut off from him is severed 
from the life of Christ's body; the. sacerdotal 
dignity ceases to bear its fruit ; the glory of the 
episcopacy is lost for ever. For there is one 
Christ, and one body, and one head. Such being 
the constitution of the Christian Church, any 



348 



Fourth Lecture. 



other view of the prerogatives of the Supreme 
Pontiff would rob the work of Christ of all 
its power, and leave the company of the faithful a 
disjointed, broken mass of fragments, without either 
use to mankind or the possibility of unity. The in- 
fallibility of the successor of Peter is, then, the neces- 
sary consequence of the incarnation, of the Son of 
God, if the Church be His body, and therefore the 
organ of His lips. "In Peter," says St. Leo, "is 
the strength of all defended, and the aid of divine 
grace is so disposed as that the firmness which is 
bestowed on Peter by Christ may be conferred by 
Peter upon the apostles." * "Remember," says 
Tertullian, " that the Lord left the keys of heaven to 
Peter, and through him to the Church." f The lan- 
guage of the early Christian Fathers is more forcible 
than even the words of the present day. "Other 
foundation," says St. Asterius, a.d. 387, "can no 
man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ 
Jesus. But with a like appellation did our Saviour 
adorn also that first disciple of His, denominating 
him a rock of the faith. Through Peter, therefore, 
become a genuine and faithful hierophant of piety, 
the stability of the churches is preserved incapable 
of fall, and unswerving. And we Christians, who are 

* T, I. Serm. iv, in Natal. Ordinat. f " Scorpiace," N. X. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church 349 

from the rising to the setting sun, stand firmly 
rooted through the building of that just man. Yea, 
though from the time the Gospel was first preached 
it has been assailed by many trials and by thousand 
tyrants, and though the devil would fain have over- 
thrown it to the earth and have removed us from our 
foundations. As the saving word says, the rivers 
flowed down as wintry floods, the vehement winds 
of the devilish spirits beat upon it, and the heavy 
rains of those who persecuted the Christians fell 
against it ; and yet nothing was more powerful than 
the bulwark set up by God, because the edifice of 
the faith had been built by the holy hands of the 
first of the apostles." 

4 ' Peter is declared the rock of faith and the foun- 
dation and superstructure of the Church of God. 
He receives, too, by promise, the keys of the king- 
dom, and becomes the lord of the gates thereof, 
so as to open them to whom he may choose, and to 
close them against those against whom they justly 
ought to be shut — against the defiled and profane, 
and the deniers of this confession, through which, 
as a careful guardian of the wealth of the churches, 
he was appointed to preside over the entrances into 
the kingdom. Oh ! the deep darkness and the cloud 
spread over men's eyes, whereby the heretics see 
not the footprints of the fathers, and walk not in 



350 



Ft) UE TH L ECTURE. 



the path worn by the feet of the apostles !" " When 
our Saviour was about to sanctify the human race 
by a voluntary death, He, as some special trust, 
confides to Peter the universal and oecumenical 
Church, after having thrice asked him, 'Lovest thou 
meV Bat as he to those questions readily gave as 
many confessions, he received the world in charge, 
as it were for one fold, one shepherd having heard, 
* Feed my lambs.' " * 

" Tell us, then," says Cassian, a father of the Latin 
Church, a.d. 429 — " tell us, we beseech thee, O Peter, 
prince of the apostles, how the churches are to 
believe in God ; for it is just that thou shouldst 
teach us, who wast thyself taught of the Lord, and 
that thou shouldst open to us the gate, of which 
thou didst receive the key. Exclude all those who 
are undermining the heavenly house ; turn away 
those who are striving to enter through false caverns 
and unlawful gates, since it is certain that no one 
can enter in at the gate of the kingdom but he unto 
whom the key, placed by thee in the churches, shall 
open it." f So as the Son of man spo.ke on earth 
in the days of His flesh the words of sanctifying 
truth, does He speak now by the mouth of His 

* St. Asterius, Horn, in Apost. Princ. Petr. et Paul, T. I. 
f Cassian, "De Incarn.," L. III. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 351 

vicar. And thus, in His divine wisdom, He accom- 
plishes what He could not have accomplished had 
he remained visibly in the world. He speaks to the 
whole race of man in all successive ages, and writes 
the faith upon their illumined minds, drawing them 
to Himself by His human members, and giving them 
the spiritual perception by which they know the 
voice of their shepherd. Hearing the voice of Peter, 
they hear the words of the infallible truth, and, 
brought into living union with the incarnate Word, 
they are filled with the light which only shines iu 
His humanity. "I am the Good Shepherd, and I 
know mine, and mine know me, as the Father know- 
eth me, and I know the Father." k 'My sheep hear 
my voice, and I give them life everlasting ; and no 
man shall pluck them out of my hand." * 



VI. 

The Sphere of the CfJiurch^ s Operations. 

We will glance a moment now at the sphere 
which the Church of Christ fills on earth, and the 
work which it is destined to accomplish. From the 



* St. John x. 14, 15, 27, 28. 



352 



Fourth Lecture. 



brief view which we have taken we are able to 
understand the purpose of God, in the plan of 
redemption. All the mercies of divine love, since 
the fall of onr race in Adam, lead to the Church as 
the fulness of all that the eternal Trinity proposed 
for the restoration of man. The Son of God took 
upon Himself the work of our salvation. As in 
the beginning ' ' all things were made by the Word, 
and without Him was made nothing that was made," 
so the same Word is the master of the new creation, 
and in a way more divine. He re-creates by His hu- 
manity, and restores the disordered world by bring- 
ing the redeemed into union with Himself. "This 
was the mystery of His will, according to the good 
pleasure of God, in the dispensation of the fulness 
of times, to re-establish all things in Christ, that are 
in heaven and on earth, in Him." This is "the 
mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in 
God, who created all things, that His manifold wis- 
dom may be made known to the principalities and 
powers in the heavenly places through the Church, 
according to the eternal purpose which He made in 
Christ Jesus our Lord." * "For in Him were all 
tilings created, in heaven and on earth, visible and 
invisible, whether thrones or dominations, princi- 



* Ephes. i. 9, 10 ; iii. 9-11. 



Catholic Doctrixe concerning the Church. 353 

parities or powers ; all things were created by Him 
and in Him. And He is the head of the body, the 
Church, who is the beginning, the first-born from the 
dead, that in all things He may hold the primacy. 
Because in Him it hath well pleased the Father 
that all fulness should dwell ; and through Him 
to reconcile all things unto Himself, making peace 
through the blood of His cross, both as to the 
things on earth and the things that are in heaven." * 
For men in their probation to eternal life all things 
point to the incarnate God, and the final complete 
manifestation of Himself in His Church. 

All the dispensations before the advent of the Son 
of man were incomplete and preparatory. The glory 
of the law was only a faint reflection of the coming 
"Light which w 7 as to enlighten every man born into 
this world" — that Light which, placed in the centre of 
time, sent its beams back to those who were approved 
by the testimony of faith. The altar of sacrifice fore- 
shadowed the Lamb of God bleeding on Calvary. 
The majestic ritual of Israel, with its tie of blood, 
which bound together in one company those who 
were the children of the covenant, was the type of a 
living communion whose bond of brotherhood should 
be the blood of the Man-God. This precious blood 



Col. i. 16-20. 



354 



Fourth Lecture. 



should be the tie of nations and peoples in a new 
and divine life, the life of the Second Adam. "By 
faith the ancients obtained a testimony." "And yet 
they received not the promise, God providing some 
better thing for us, that they should not be perfected 
without us." They were ever living in hope, and 
"looking for a city that hath foundations, whose 
builder and maker is God." * To the privileges of 
this Church they could not be admitted until the 
fulness of time, when the Word assumed humanity 
and "a body was fitted to Him." f Then when the 
precious blood was shed, when the kingdom of glory 
had received the risen Lord, the door was opened in 
heaven, and the God- Man on His mediatorial throne 
became "head over all things to the Church." Then 
the Sacred Heart began to reign, and the human arms 
of God were stretched out to embrace the just. Then, 
"the sharpness of death being overcome, the King 
of Glory opened to all believers the kingdom of 
heaven." Thus, as St. Thomas tells us, "The whole 
humanity of Christ flows into all men, and through 
this human nature He becomes their head." "The 
body of the Church is constituted of men. of all ages 
from the beginning to the end of time, of those who 
are actually joined to Him in glory, and of those who 



* Heb. xi. 10, 39, 40. 



f Heb. x. 5. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 355 

are united to Hire by charity and faith." * The city 
of the living God stretches out its walls beyond the 
veil of sense, and is one with the heavenly Jerusalem. 
For the living it is the home of faith and grace on 
earth, where, through substantial, participation of 
the humanity of Christ, the regenerate are trans- 
formed into the likeness of Him in whom they live. 
Here death is swallowed up of life. When the hour 
of struggle and probation is past, closer still will be 
the union of the members to their glorified Head. 
Then, by the natural power of their new birth, they 
shall pass to " the Church of the first-born, to the 
spirits of the just made perfect, to the company of 
many thousands of angels, and to Jesus, the media- 
tor of the New Testament." f Then shall be seen 
the power of the Church as the body of Christ, and 
angels and men shall be made one in the incarnate 
God. The mystery of the divine purpose shall be 
unfolded, when the sanctified shall see with enlight- 
ened eyes " the hope of His calling, the riches of 
the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the 
exceeding greatness of His power towards us, which 
He wrought in Christ." % " Since angels and men 
are ordained to the fruition of the divine glory, Jesus 



* " Sumraa," Pars III. Quasst. viii. Art. iii. 
f Heb. xii. 22-24. % Ephes. i. 17-19. 



356 



Fo l 'R TH L ECTURE. 



Christ is rightly called the head of angels as well 
as of men. One body is one company ordained 
for one end, with distinct acts and offices. Hence 
the mystical body of the Church, consists not only 
of men but also of angels. Of all this multitude 
Christ is the head, since He is in intimate union 
with God, and most perfectly participates in all 
His gifts. Of His fulness the angelic company par- 
ticipates, since the eternal Father has placed Him 
on His right hand in the heavenly places, above all 
principality, and power, and virtue, and dominion, 
and every name that is named, not only in this world 
but in that which is to come ; and He hath sub- 
jected all things under His feet, and hath made Him 
head over all the Church, which is His body and His 
fulness."* The glad union of all in Christ, and, 
through Him, in the ever-blessed Trinity, will com- 
plete the work of the Church, when, "all things being 
subdued unto the incarnate Son, He shall deliver up 
the kingdom to the Father, and God shall be all in 
all." f 

Such being the sphere of the Church's operation 
in the sanctification of men, it is manifest that she 
is, in the plans of divine mercy, a necessity to our 

* St. Thomas, " Summa," Pars III. Quasst. viii. Art. iv. 
f 1 Cor. xv. 24, 28. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 35? 

race. In no other way than in and by her can men 
find restoration to the gifts of Eden. There is one 
Redeemer, and He hath but one body. They who 
would be saved must put off the old Adam, and put 
on the new by actual incorporation into the hu- 
manity of God's consubstantial Son. Only in the 
Church can this incorporation be wrought, and she 
alone has the graces which flow from Him as her 
head. Every grace which the long-suffering of divine 
love extends to men leads directly to the incarnate 
Word and the tabernacle in which He dwells. Like 
the beams of the sun, all come from Him and all 
return to Him. But for His Church, which is the 
light of the world, the earth had long ago sunk away 
from hope in a rayless night. But for His Church, 
which continually presents Him to the needy hearts 
of sinners, there would be no promise of the future 
and no sign of the dawn. Individual souls stand or 
fall before their Judge only in the light of this 
Church, which they receive or reject. Christ is re- 
vealed and known only as the soul, in the transform- 
ing power of this temple, is illumined in the light of 
the new creation. From her altars and on her sacra- 
ments the patient Lord waits with pitying mercy and 
open heart till the day of trial be over. Other com- 
panies of men are the array of the adversary against 
the one Christ, who subdued him on the mountain, 



358 



Fovuth Lecture. 



overcame his malice on Calvary, and shall one clay 
bind him for ever in the pit of darkness. They have 
no part nor lot in the Child of Mary, the redeeming, 
renovating Word and Wisdom of the Almighty. 
There is one bod^y, one Lord, one faith, and one bap- 
tism, as there is one God. "Other foundation can 
no man lay than that which is laid, Christ Jesus." * 
When the floods arise, and the winds beat upon these 
foundations of men, they shall fall, and the ark of 
God alone shall ride the waves and bear the just to 
the mountain of promise. They who in the latter 
day are not found the members of Christ's body will 
pass to the hopeless darkness where the sight of 
God can never come. 

But as the Church of the Crucified bears His 
image, so must she here tread in His steps. She 
leads to victory and endless life, but her triumphs 
are not here in the scene of her conflicts. Like her 
Divine Head, she shall give out her life for the un- 
grateful world, sanctify men by her heavenly truth, 
lift high before God the adorable sacrifice of her Lord 
to save the guilty from intending wrath ; and yet 
she shall be rejected by the high and the low, by the 
learned and the unlearned. Society, christianized by 
her benignant sway, shall rise against its benefactor ; 



* 1 Cor. iii. 11. 



Catholic Doctrine concerning the Church. 359 

the kings of the earth shall conspire against her un- 
earthly power, and the pride of intellect exalt itself 
against the Wisdom of God. Around the central 
throne of her Supreme Pontiff, bearing the divine 
functions of her invisible Head, the army of the ene- 
my shall gather, and the trumpet's blast call loudly 
to all her foes. Heresy and schism will join hands 
with infidelity and atheism, and sensualism make 
high festival with the ambition of princes and the 
votaries of false liberty. The floods arise in anger, 
and the tempest beats against the rock on which the 
Divine Builder planted His Church. There can be 
no sadder scene than that of Gethsemane ; no more 
wonderful picture of God's seeming discomfiture 
than Calvary. When the might of God seems to 
sink beneath the malice of His creatures, then is the 
hour of its great victory. Gethsemane has subdued 
all loving hearts, and Calvary has redeemed the 
world. Peacefully beneath the attacks of the open 
enemy and the false friend, the Church accomplishes 
her divine mission, sanctifies with grace and truth 
the pure, and, true to her Lord, grows in nearness to 
Him and likeness to His image. She, in her oneness, 
in her supernatural gifts, in her unbroken loyalty to 
the see of Peter, shall be found in her lot, to wel- 
come her Bridegroom, when the scenes of sense shall 
be dissolved, the earth itself shall quake, and the 



300 



Fourth Lecture. 



elements shall melt with the burning fire of coming 
judgment. Then the glory of the Lord's temple 
shall appear in £ ' that city which hath no need of the 
sun, nor of the moon." Then the body mystical of 
the incarnate Son shall put on its nuptial garments, 
and the marriage shall be celebrated before the 
throne. "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glo- 
ry to the Lord our God, for the marriage of the 
Lamb is come, and His wife hath prepared herself." 
"And He who sits upon the throne shall say : Be- 
hold, I make all things new. It is done : I am Alpha 
and Omega ; the beginning and the end." * 



* Apoc. xix. 7 ; xxi. 5, 6, 23. 



